


Nowhere As Pretty As This

by GrimDoll



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, All of them are losers really, Angst, Eventual Smut, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Keith Hunk and Lance are roomates, Keith is a street singer, Kissing, Like... it's there I swear, Long story I guess, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Probably a loser, Rimming, Romance, Shiro is a successful young man, Shiro isn't, plot with some porn, some alcohol, some mild language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-08-09 02:10:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7782817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimDoll/pseuds/GrimDoll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith spends his days between singing in the streets of Rome for coins and the occasional shows at half empty bars. He's practically a loser, living without a lot of money and with not much purpose either. Shiro is the exact opposite, he's successful, focused and has a promising future. When he arrives at Rome, their paths cross, and together they go on a journey that might just change something in both of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Nice Music and Chinese food

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write Keith as a singer being a total weirdo and making Shiro fall for him with his weridness.  
> Then I saw "Sing Street" and welp, It turned into a longer fic.

Last week it was still so hot outside that it was practically hell standing in the street for too long. That helped him get some pity change, but really that was never enough. Not today though. Today was warm and nice with the air of late summer, and the gardens in front of Piazza Venezia were filled with tourists, walking around or sitting to catch a rest between sites.

It was the perfect day to get some actual good money, and Keith made up his mind to not leave until he has at least 50 euros in his pockets. His fingers moved slowly on the guitar strings, letting out soft and bubbly pop music. A song he thought was sure to get some money from the group of girls sitting somewhere to his right, giggling between themselves.

He finished a song, moving one hand through his long, dark bangs before picking up a water bottle from his side for a sip. When he put the bottle back down he had to stop for a moment, noticing something at the corner of his eye.

“Whoa-“

That was, without a doubt, the most beautiful person he’d seen all day, maybe even all week. He was tall, with well-built muscles covered by a bright buttoned up shirt and a pair of jeans. He had a short buzz cut with longer bangs and beautiful eyes and-

Shit. He was looking back.  
Was Keith staring?

The young boy looked down quickly as if to tune his guitar, hiding the blush on his cheeks. He took a deep breath before starting to play another song.

 

\--

 

“Shiroooooo, you should just go and give him some money if you like him so much” Allura noted, after trying to get the man next to her to get up for the fifth time already.  
“What…” He shook his head and turned to look at her for a moment. “No, I mean… I’m just resting. And the music is really nice and all.”  
“We are resting for over fifteen minutes and counting, who are you trying to fool,” came the remark from his other side, where Katie was sitting, tapping a few things into her phone. “Not that I mind, I’m just saying.”

“Oh, really…” Shiro whispered, more to himself than for the others. “I didn’t notice.”  
“Want us to leave you here? I don’t mind if you get a date out of it” the young girl smirked and gave him a sharp stare from behind her glasses, only to be granted with a loud sigh as Allura spoke again.  
“Oh come on, it’s our first day here in Rome! We can’t split already!”

“Okay, okay!” Shiro said with a short laugh, stopping the two of them before they get too loud and get the boy notice them. He searched through his pockets until he found a 10 euro bill. “Wait for me here, be back in a sec.”

He waited for the song to end before dropping the money in the guitar case. Looking at the singer with a smile on his face. He was even prettier now that Shiro stood closer. He had a sharp, thin face, framed by black long hairs with some burgundy streaks in them, tied in a small ponytail at his neck. His eyes were purple-ish, and he wore simple clothes. Shiro stood there looking, and all of a sudden felt like he had to say something.  
“Nice music.” Really? That’s the best you can do?  
“Um- Thanks,” the stranger looked at him for a long moment before smiling back. “Have a great trip.”  
“Thank you,” Shiro nodded, taking a few steps backwards before turning away, back to the two women that were all ready to go. It crossed his mind for a second that this will be the last time he saw that singer, but as he wasn’t sure how to react to that thought- so he let it disappear.

\--

“I brought Chinese food!” Keith bumped the front door with his shoulder, skipping over clothes and some papers on his way to the small table in the living room.  
“Sweet!” Hunk nudged to the side of the small, worn out sofa to make room- only to get that room immediately taken by the loud ball of energy that was Lance.  
“You got money for ALL THAT?!” He looked at the bags with a snarky smile. “And before 4? No way! Did you steal money?”  
“I didn’t, idiot!” Keith sighed, dropping the bags on the table then sitting on the floor near it, placing the guitar next to him. “I got a 10 Euro bill from a guy, is all”.

“Ohhhhhhh?” Lance was already holding a box of noodles in one hand and chopsticks in the other. But the big pile of noodles he had in them stopped hallway to his mouth, “You’re blushing.”  
“I’m not blushing!” he protested.  
“Yeah you areeeeeee”  
“I’m not!” he squinted angrily. “Hunk! Tell him!”  
Hunk sent him an apologetic look before shrugging. “You are blushing a little bit, actually”.  
“Fuck-”  
“-I won!”

  
The two replies came at the exact same time, causing Keith to bury his face in his hands and Lance to burst out laughing. The young singer picked up a chopstick and stabbed a poor eggroll violently. He shoved half of it in to his mouth before talking again.  
“Mw- weah I mim aminm.”  
“Yeah ok” Hunk was decent enough not to laugh at him (Lance was not). “Try again but without the poor food in your mouth, you harmed it enough already.”  
Keith swallowed and tried again. “What I meant is… It’s not like I can find him… anyway”  
“You don’t have any details on him? Something?” the other tried.  
The young singer put his elbows on the table, trying to think back to earlier. “…I think his friends called him Shiro.”  
“I’ll try and ask around at the market” Hunk shrugged again. “I mean, probably won’t work. But it’s worth a try.”

  
“My my” Lance put the noodles box back on the table, half empty. “Shiro the mystery man. What a story, it would make a good song.”  
“I guess, yeah…” Keith smiled. He could probably write a song about that man.  
“Speaking of songs!” The quiet moment passed, and Lance got back to being loud, wearing a proud smile on his face. “Guess who got you a gig at the bar?” he didn’t wait for an answer before pointing at himself with his thumb. “This guy did.”  
“Really?!” Keith’s eyes widened. “Lance you’re-“  
“The best? I know”  
“Don’t push it!” and with that, the three of them got back to eating, talking about the details in between.

 

\--

 

 

“Well, I’m full,” Allura leaned back in her chair. The restaurant was full, and lit with warm and soft lights. “That was pretty amazing, don’t you think?”  
“M-hm,” Katie nodded, mouth still half full.  
“It’s good” Shiro smiled, raising his eyes from the glass of wine he was holding.

  
“I still can’t believe you didn’t even get that boy’s name” Allura protested, causing Shiro to sigh.  
“I know. You told me that at least six times today.”  
“I’m your manager it’s my job worrying about you,” she remarked.  
“Yeah, about my job. Not my romantic life.”  
A victorious smile showed on her face. “So you do admit that you like him! ‘It’s just some nice music’ my ass! I knew you were lying”  
“Allura please, how can I like him. I don’t even know him” he scratched the back of his neck.

“Well, I can find him for you,” this was Katie’s turn to pop back into the conversation, causing Shiro to shift his gaze to her quickly.  
“You can?”  
“Well, yeah? I saw how you looked at him so I took some pictures and a video. I can try to cross reference them an-“  
“Oh no Katie we better not know” Allura stopped her. “I’m not sure it’s legal.”  
“Um… It’s probably not” Katie had a big smile on her face. “But I won’t get caught so who cares.” She already had her cellphone in her hand when she said it. “Give me a few moments, or minutes, maybe, since it’s just a phone I can’t work fast.”

Shiro had no doubt that she could find him. What he wasn’t sure about, however, was why he got happy thinking he’d see the singer again. He didn’t even know his name, so what was it about him that got Shiro so… enchanted?  
They paid for the dinner and headed back to the hotel by foot. Shiro had to pull Katie away from harm’s way more than once, but she wouldn’t leave her phone even after almost falling down some stairs. That was true motivation. Truly inspiring.

“A-ha!” her loud, proud call- almost at the hotel- made Shiro jump in his place and Allura squeal, “You found him?”  
“I found him,” a wide smirk appeared on her face.

  
“Oh my god, I can’t believe it. You are a true spy,” the older woman cheered.  
“Yeah, I am definitely not working to my full potential,” Katie adjusted her glasses before turning to look at Shiro. “Anyway, it’s your lucky day. Looks like he’s going to perform in a bar tomorrow. I have the address if you want to go.” She flashed the screen in front of his face, showing the written address and the map of the area.  
“It’s a little far from the center, on the other side of the river.”

“O-oh…” Shiro smiled, looking a little unsure about it all, but he sent the address to himself just in case. “I’ll think about it… I guess.”  
“Keith, by the way,” she added.  
“What?” He looked down from the phone to her.  
“His name. It’s Keith.”

 

“Oh.”  
Keith.  
“Cool.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first episode is pretty short. I guess it's more like a prologue. Please bear with me.  
> Thank you <3


	2. Of Taxis and Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was back at the table and almost halfway through his glass when he felt a movement next to him.  
> “Crap, I wanted to buy you a drink.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ey I got another chapter done. It's still a pretty short one, but I hope the next one will be a bit longer.

The bar was dimly lit, filled with the smell of alcohol and old wood. It wasn’t full, which wasn’t really surprising as it was pretty early on a weekday evening. Still, Keith would take it. Preforming in front of a mixed crowd: a few drunk people after a breakup, old people with nothing better to do, or the two random tourists that wondered too far because they got a recommendation off of Trip Advisor. All of this still payed more than preforming on the street and definitely felt better.

  
Maybe, just maybe, it will help to distract him from thoughts about the tourist. Hunk came back from the market empty handed, unsurprisingly; and Keith had to accept the fact that he probably won't see this ‘Shiro’ guy again.  
He glanced over to Lance, who was standing behind the counter, preparing drinks for the new costumers with a bright smile on his face. The tanned boy noticed the glance and sent a thumb up back to Keith with his free hand.  
When the old clock behind the bar showed 9:00, Keith got up and took his trusty guitar from the counter, making his way to the small stage. He took another look at the crowed before greeting everyone a good night, and smiled for a moment before he started singing.

  
Yeah, that was nice, that was fun. Even if he didn’t have a date, this was enough.

 

\--

 

Fuck, it was so late already. He’s definitely going to miss the show and lose his chance. It’s not like he meant to get here so late, but it really was pretty far away and Shiro got lost wondering around on his way there.  
It was a little after 10 when he found the blue lit sign with the name of the bar. He got in quietly, breathing a sigh of relief when his eyes located the singer standing on the stage. He made his way to a small, empty table just as the other finished a song. Keith bowed slightly and thanked the crowd. From his sit Shiro could see the boy sneaking a look at him. And then he was gone, probably to a back room, before Shiro could get up and walk towards him.

  
Ah, well… guess he couldn’t blame him. The young man must have thought Shiro was some kind of stalker. In all honesty, that’s what he would think if it was the opposite. In the dark, he let a pout cover his features for a long moment before getting up to the bar. The bartender was very energetic and full of smiles. It was a nice place, Shiro thought to himself, very fitting for the singer. He might as well sit there and enjoy a quiet evening. After all, it took him over an hour to get here.  
He was back at the table and almost halfway through his glass when he felt a movement next to him.  
“Crap, I wanted to buy you a drink.”

  
Keith sat next to him without waiting for an invitation. He looked even nicer the second time Shiro saw him. His hair reached his shoulders, which were covered with an old and slightly torn leather jacket.  
“Oh-“ Shiro found himself unsure of what to say. Again. That was a repeating thing in the very few interactions he had with the other, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.  
“Sorry, that was probably a weird way to start a conversation,” the younger boy had half a smile on his face. He brushed his fingers through his hair before talking again “I’m Keith.”  
I know, the tourist thought to himself, but that wasn’t what he said out loud. “Shiro,” he nodded and smiled back.  
“Nice.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“Um- ,” the young man looked embarrassed for a short moment before shaking his head. “I meant, it’s a nice name. Really special.”  
“Well, it’s Japanese,” Shiro shrugged.  
“Ah, are you Japanese?” Keith leaned forward to get a better look at the other. “I can see that, I guess.”  
“Japanese American,” he explained. “What about you? Keith… that’s not an Italian name.” That led to a long pause from the other, and for a moment Shiro was afraid he screwed up. But then Keith just let out a soft “No,” and got up, reaching one hand out towards the other. “Let’s go.”  
“Where to?” Shiro wondered, to which Keith answered with a smile. “I don’t know, I’ll think of something.”

They walked quietly one next to the other. Shiro wondered if he should say something- he probably should, otherwise it might be weird. But then, Keith spoke and stopped Shiro’s thoughts in their tracks.  
“We can't catch a taxi from near the bar, the street is too narrow”.  
“Why do we need a taxi?” Shiro wondered.  
“To get out of here, silly.” Keith smiled. “There’s nothing interesting in the streets around here, unless you’re interested in finding a half passed out drunk.”  
Shiro let out a short laugh. “I’d give up on that experience.”

  
“Good,” the boy looked satisfied, leading them to a larger street and looking around it. Keith raised one arm and stuck his thumb out. Again not talking, but focusing on the road instead. A minute or two passed before a taxi stopped next to them, and Keith dragged Shiro after him to the backseat. He leaned forward, exchanging a few words with the driver. Shiro noted to himself that it was an actual conversation, and not just Keith saying an address or a name. Not that it bothered him, Italian was a beautiful language. Even if he couldn’t understand it, he enjoyed listening to the other speak it.

 

“What did you tell him?” he gave words to his thoughts once the other finished and leaned back into the seat next to him. But Keith only smirked, “Um… I’ll tell you once we get out of here, okay?”  
“Okay.” Shiro didn’t mind that much.  
“Have you seen Rome at night?” Keith wondered.  
“Not really, we just got here yesterday.”  
“Oh, great.” the boy seemed satisfied, “then… look over there.” He leaned against Shiro and pointed out of the window at a church, slightly lit in yellow streetlights.  
“Oh, that’s pretty,” Shiro smiled.  
“Well, there are so many churches here, after the first few they all look the same.”  
Shiro laughed, “I can promise you they are definitely not the same, just built in a similar way.”  
“Well, they look the same to me.” Keith smiled, already pointing at the next building that caught his eyes. As the taxi was driving, the singer done that many times- showing Shiro different buildings and statues and fountains, all lit with warm yellow lights. It was a long drive, but Shiro didn’t really mind. Probably the opposite: after the cab stopped and he paid the ridiculous amount showing on the monitor, it was almost disappointing to get out of the small, warm backseat into the night air.

 

“Well?” he asked after the car drove away, looking at Keith with a questioning expression. “What did you talk about back then? You promised you’ll tell me.”  
Keith looked embarrassed for a moment. Even in the faint lights of the night Shiro could swear the boy was blushing. He passed his fingers through his bangs before talking. “I told him that it’s your first time in Rome, so you wouldn’t notice if he drove you around for half an hour to get some easy money out of you. And that I won’t tell you if he’ll give me 5 euros.”  
“Wha-“  
“Wait!” Keith wouldn’t even let him react to that, “let me explain first, ok?”  
He looked so worried, Shiro couldn’t help but nod, and the other let out a small sigh of relief before he continued.  
“I just… wanted to spend time next to you, and now-“ he took the 5 euro bill out of his pockets and flashed in in front of his face, smirking, “-I have money to buy you ice-cream.”

 

“Oh…”  
Well, he should probably be mad about this, shouldn’t he? He had all the reasons in the world to be. But if he had to be honest, he really didn’t care. So he lost 20 euros or something like that, who cares, he had fun. And when he looked at the younger boy, he could see that behind the smirk he looked worried, scared even. Shiro noted to himself that Keith was really bad at hiding his true feelings.  
“Ok then,” he nodded and smiled, letting his hand rest on Keith’s shoulder for a moment before he started walking down the street. “It better be a really good ice-cream then.”

 

“The best!” the relief on Keith’s face was easily visible, his unsure smirk turned into a wide grin.  
“It’s the middle of the night though; can we really find an open ice-cream store?” Shiro wondered, to which the other replied, “It’s Rome, there’s always places where you can eat ice-cream, and pizza. That’s just how it is.”  
“Can’t argue with that I guess,” Shiro shrugged. He followed Keith as the boy went down the street, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.

 

“So, what brings you to Rome?” came the question from next to him.  
“Work, actually.”  
“Oh, what are you working at?”  
“I’m an architecture, our company is looking for a contract to build a mall not too far from the city. It’s supposed to be really huge so they sent us here before to get on their good side.” Shiro explained.  
“Whoa, so you’re a big shot, serious man,” Keith turned to look at him, an amused look on his face.  
“I guess?” Shiro scratched the back of his head. Maybe he was, but being called that by the other felt weird. He decided to change the subject. "And what about you? What brings you to Rome?”  
Another pause, just like the last time he tried to ask Keith about himself. After a long moment Keith smiled, raising his face to look at the dark skies.

  
“Maybe I’ll tell you next time, ok?”  
Shiro couldn’t deny that he like the idea of ‘next time’.  
“Okay then, if there really is one.”  
Keith shrugged and averted his eyes back to the other. “I’m not going anywhere.” He didn’t give Shiro a lot of time to process before he grabbed his hand and pulled him into a small shop that looked pretty old. Not one that you will usually find inviting. It had white and green tiles on the walls, and was lit brightly with harsh neon. An old man was standing behind the counter, smiling at them as they went in.

 

“This place looks…” Shiro wasn’t sure how to put it nicely.  
“Horrible, yes.” Keith nodded, an amused grin showing on his face at the confused look on the older man’s face. “The places that look ugly and old… they’re usually actually old. And they’re here for this long because they’re good. You've got to search for these kind of places.”  
“You’re teaching me a lot of things tonight.” Shiro turned to the ice cream showcase. “So which one of these are the best?”  
“All of them are good”.  
“Then, which is your favorite?”  
“Vanilla, I guess”.  
“Really? I didn’t expect something so… normal out of you.” Shiro chuckled. He noticed, at the corners of his eyes, that Keith was blushing again. They ordered two cups and Keith paid (technically Shiro paid, but whatever) for both of them, handing Shiro his cup before heading back outside.

  
“So, how is it?”  
Shiro took a spoonful of ice-cream into his mouth. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. It really was much better than the place would suggest.  
“It's good!” This time, the expression on Keith’s face was satisfied.  
“Told you”.  
“You did,” Shiro smiled. “I guess it makes up for you scamming me earlier.”  
“Sorry about that.” The singer’s cheeks turned red yet again.

 

They kept walking one next to the other, eating quietly. Even after they finished the desert, throwing the cups in a nearby trashcan, no one was in a hurry to talk. This time, Shiro found the silence just as comfortable as the conversations that came before it. He wasn’t sure what to think about all of this. Going out like that with a complete stranger was nothing like him. But he was in a different country and this evening felt like an adventure, then so be it. So what, he can be a different person for one evening. Maybe even-

 

“…Tomorrow?” Keith’s voice pulled him out of his own thoughts and back to earth. He shook his head before talking back.  
“Sorry, what?”  
“So can I see you again tomorrow?” the younger boy repeated his question.  
“Well, I have a work meeting in the morning, but we can meet after that” Shiro stopped in his tracks, letting his eyes rest on the other as he spoke.  
“Great!” Keith cheered. “Then I’ll give you my number. Call me when you’re finished.” He reached out his hand towards Shiro when he said that, and Shiro responded with taking his phone out of his back pocket and putting it in his hand. Without words and with a swift movement, Keith put his number in and called to himself.

  
“There, now I have your number as well,” he said and gave the phone back to Shiro.  
“Good, then I’ll call you tomorrow.” It didn’t matter at that moment, if it was like him or not to do such a thing. What mattered now was the fact that he had Keith’s number in his hand, and that he’s going to see Keith again tomorrow. He admitted to himself that the thought of them meeting made him much less nervous about meeting his potential costumers tomorrow.

 

“Okay then.” Keith shoved his hands to the pockets of his pants. “Then… I’m gonna go now.”  
“Okay.” Shiro hesitated for one moment. He wasn’t sure what to do, or even if he had to do something at all. Was Keith expecting something? Maybe, probably… The singer was still there, shifting his eyes between Shiro and the ground. Yes, he was definitely waiting.  
Maybe it was cold feet, or maybe Shiro’s common sense kicked in. He ended up mumbling a soft ‘goodbye’, biting his lips as Keith nodded and looked away to hide the disappointment that was so obvious on his face. He followed the boy with his gaze until Keith was gone, leaving Shiro alone between the crowed of people.

 

Only then it crossed his mind that he have no idea where the fuck he’s at right now.  
Maybe he should’ve asked Keith to call him a cab.  
…On the other hand, maybe not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with me and the tiny dorks <3


	3. Of conversations, for Better or Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where everyone gossips, and than Allura makes Shiro invite Keith for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking my time with this fic, collage work is kicking and man art is a lot of work.  
> Please stick with me! <3

The loud voice of Lance greeted him as soon as he walked through the door.  
"What the fuck man! I can't believe you ditched me! Left me to carry your guitar home for you while you ran off with some du-" Keith reached his hand out and put it over the other's lips. Shutting him up, knowing otherwise he would go on forever.  
"Yeah, okay, shut up. It wasn't just 'some dude'. It was _him_."  
Lance flipped out, shoving Keith's hand away and jumping in his place. " _That_ was Shiro?! The mystery man?!"

  
"Lance got to see Shiro?" Hunk came out of his room, probably awaken by the noise. "Not fair man."  
"You never mentioned he was this hot!" Lance turned to look at Keith, a wide smirk on his face. "Now I know why you're crushing this badly"  
" _Lance_!" The singer protested.  
"What? I'm just saying, if he doesn't want you anymore you can introduce him to me. I’d do him a fa-"  
"I swear to god I'm gonna kill y-"

  
"There there." Hunk stopped the two with a big yawn. He stretched his arms up and proceeded to push both Keith and Lance towards the kitchen. "You two stop fighting. It’s making too much noise. Now, I'm going to make us all hot cocoa and then you can tell us the details".

 

It was an accepted fact in the house that you can't really stay mad when Hunk is involved. And thank god for that, otherwise Keith and Lance would have killed each other a long time ago. Keith sighed, sliding his body into one of the plastic chairs near the kitchen table. "I don't know, there's nothing special to tell."  
Hunk took out three glasses, a tablet of chocolate and milk before he started to talk. "Keith, not to be mean, but you didn't go on a date for over a year, and even back then your last date was Lance-"  
"Hey!" The tanned boy interrupted at the mention of his name. "Just so you know I am a **great** dating partner."  
"Anyway." Hunk ignored him and continued, "Everything about this is special. Start talking or you won't get cocoa."

  
That was a valid enough threat. Keith sighed again and passed his fingers through his hair before starting to recite the night's events. When he finished, Lance looked ecstatic.  
“I can’t believe he still gave you his number after all the shit you did!”  
“I know.” Keith turned red, covering his face with his hands. “Pretty sure he’s out of my league.”  
“Definitely.” Lance nodded.  
“Maybe.” Hunk put two cups filled with hot chocolate in front of the two, and then sat down with a cup of his own. The sweet smell filled Keith’s head, and made him move his hands from his face to the glass.  
“You guys are not helping.”

  
“But I mean,” Hunk shrugged, “Who cares in what league he is as long as he calls you again, no?”   
“I guess.” Keith grunted, raising the cup to his lips.  
“But if he does call,” Hunk continued. “Take a picture pf him. I don’t want to be the only one out of the loop”.

 

 

\--

 

At night, Shiro managed to sneak into his hotel room with no interruptions. The morning, however, was a different story.  
He barely just woke up when Allura and Katie busted the door open and got into his room.

“Well then, how was it?” Allura had a bright smile on her face.  
“It was…” Shiro paused for a moment, sipping from his coffee to hide the slight blush he had. “Good. Weird, but very good.”  
“Wonderful!” Allura cheered, putting her hands together. “Tell me all about it.”  
“I don’t think we have time for that,” the man reached one arm to scratch behind his head.  
“Oh it’s ok, I’m pretty sure she just want to know two things,” Katie smirked. “If you had any action, and if there’s a second date.”  
  
Allura seemed to consider the last sentence thoughtfully before nodding in agreement. “Yes, I think these are indeed the two most important parts.”   
“I know you so well princess,” Katie waved her hand and sat at an open chair.  
“I told you not to call me that!” Allura puffed her cheeks.  
“But I like this nickname.”  
Shiro couldn’t help but laugh, “I have to agree, it’s a nice nickname.”  
  
“Hey!” the dark skinned woman turned to look at him, a slightly scary look on her face. “Don’t think you can get away with an answer like this!” she pointed a finger at him. Shiro wondered for a moment about how he got to work- and be friends- with the two most dangerous women he knew.

“Yes, there will be a second date. And no, of course I didn’t have any action I don’t even know him. Is this what you think about me?”  
“No, I know you’re too nice for your own good,” Allura seemed satisfied enough with getting an answer, even if it was one she didn’t like. “But a girl can hope.”  
“Well, hope a little longer,” Shiro shook his head from side to side, a gentle smile on his face.

“If you two are finished,” Katie started before Allura had the chance to replay. “Let me remind you that we are in Rome for business, and not to woo cute boys-“  
“K-Katie-!“  
“Quiet Shiro. Anyway,” she took out a set of pages from her bag and gave it to Shiro. “This is all the information I managed to get on our customers and competing companies. Allura and I already read through it so it also has her notes written in it. Make sure you read everything while we drive there.”

“Thank you. You’re the best.” Shiro took the pages from her, a short laugh leaving his lips at the look of Allura’s comments highlighted is purple.  
“She insisted on them being purple,” Katie noted, “Absolute princess”  
“Oh you’re one to talk!” Allura hit one hand on the table. “You get pissy when your note highlights aren’t green.”  
“I _like_ green, sue me.” Katie rolled her eyes in return, and if Shiro didn’t know them well enough to know it was all just friendly banter, he would definitely be scared.  
  
“You are both my princesses,” He laughed, getting up from his seat at the table. “Now get out of here. I need to take a shower.”

 

*

 

The whole work business took much longer than Shiro thought it would. Their customers must have been playing it hard to get, because he couldn’t see any other logical reason for the meeting to be delayed so badly. Katie did mentioned it in her files, but is still surprised him how tedious they were, asking questions about every single detail and aspect.  
At the end, it was agreed that they’d have a week at most to set up an offer with basic design suggestions. It seemed to him that the only reason they got even this was Allura’s persuasion skills. If it was up to him, they would probably have been kicked out half way through.

When they finally got out, Shiro looked at his phone and grunted.  
“It’s 6 already?!”  
“Are you late for your date?” Katie glanced up at him.  
“I mean- not really?” he shrugged, “But I promised I’d call, and it’s so late already.”  
“Then call,” Allura’s tone made it clear that she won’t be taking no for an answer. The smirk on her face didn’t help as well. “I want to hear how this goes.”  
“You know, I’m really starting to think you need to find a date of your own,” He noted before continuing to find Keith’s number and dial it.

A few rings have passed before he could hear the other side pick-up.  
_“You finally called.”_  
“Yeah… sorry about that,” Shiro could feel the corners of his lips go up after hearing the other’s voice. “I got caught up in work.”  
_“Ah, the big man business. How did it go?”_  
“Pretty well, I guess… We have a week before we get to the next stage and then we’ll see how it goes from there.”  
There was a short pause on the other side, and Shiro was just about to ask if everything was alright when Allura spoke.

  
“Invite him to dinner with us!”  
_“…what was that?”_ Keith’s voice came out a little confused.  
“I’m sorry, that’s just my friend! Wait a second.” Shiro quickly explained before covering the phone with his hand and looking at Allura.  
“What are you doing?!” He whispered in the sharpest way he could. “Are you crazy?”  
“Shiro,” the look she gave him was filled with concern. “You don’t realize how bad you’re crushing aren’t you? I just want to see if that boy is good enough for you.”  
“What-,” it took him a moment, and when he realized he can’t find a good replay, he turned to the shorter girl for help. “Katie, save me.”  
“I actually support that idea,” Katie nodded.

Well that didn’t help. Shiro put the phone back to his ear.  
“So… um…” he wasn’t sure how to say it, but Keith cut him off with his replay.  
_“I don’t mind coming to dinner.”_  
“Really?”  
_“Yeah, it might be nice”_  
“We’ll pick you up at 8 then?” Shiro offered. After another short pause, Keith answered.  
_“Just give me the address of the restaurant and I’ll be there.”_  
“Okay, I’ll text you the address,” Shiro nodded slightly, even though the other couldn’t see it. “See you later.”  
_“Yeah… Bye.”_  
And with that, Keith hung up.

“There, are you two happy?” Shiro slipped the phone back to his pocket.  
“Very,” was the answer he got, from the two of them at the same time. The man sighed, why the hell did he agree to this? This was a horrible idea. Sure he could handle Allura and Katie, but he also knew how bad it can go if you’re on their bad side. He’s seen some things.  
“Please don’t eat him alive”.  
“Nah,” Katie smirked viciously, “That’s your job.”  
“Katie _oh my god_!” he could feel his face turn red while Allura busted out laughing.

 

*

 

He wasn’t sure if Keith would actually come. Sure, he said he would, but it still seemed like such an ‘out of nowhere’ thing to do, suddenly going to dinner with people he didn’t knew. Shiro thought to himself how he wouldn’t be surprised to get a last minute phone call explaining how the singer couldn’t get here at the end because some sort of excuse or whatever.

But as they walked passed the corner, he could see a slim body covered in a simple jacket and jeans, and black nice hair with wine streaks tied to a ponytail that definitely belonged to Keith.    
“You came.”  
Keith turned around to look at him, an unsure smile on his face.  
“I said I would.”  
“Hi!” Allura popped up from behind Shiro, reaching her hand to shake Keith’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you! I’m Allura.”  
“Hey, Keith.” The boy shook her hand and smiled.  
“Oh trust us, we know,” Katie didn’t try to be any less sharp just because she met someone new.

Keith blushed.  
“Um… Well, I hope you heard good things.”  
“Yeah we did,” Katie smirked, “We didn’t hear a lot though, Shiro was too s-“  
“Shall we go in?” Shiro squeezed Katie’s shoulder for a tiny moment, earning a short chuckle.  Luckily for him, seems like it was enough to change the direction of the conversation.  
“Yeah,” Keith turned to look at the restaurant sign, and then back at Shiro. “I’ve never eaten here. This place is really expensive.”  
“We wanted to celebrate,” Allura cheered. “Because the meeting today went nicely.”  
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll pay” Shiro assured the other before he’d feel bad. But then he couldn’t resist adding. “After all you paid for the ice cream yesterday.”

He could hear Keith choke behind him as he moved into the building. Heh, cute. He noted to himself that he should tease his date again sometime, preferably soon.

They got a nice table at one of the inner corners of the restaurant, slightly hidden from the main area. The place wasn’t small, and it was filled with guests, but they sat far enough so that they could talk quietly. Shiro wasn’t sure if it’s was a blessing or a curse. However, he didn’t have a lot of time to worry, because Keith started talking right after they ordered and handed their menus to the old waiter.

“So I know Shiro is an architect, but what about you two?” He asked.  
“I’m his business manager,” Allura smiled brightly. “To put it simply, I deal with talking to people and make them buy our designs. Shiro is cute and all, but he is too polite, that’s where I come in.”  
“She could sell coals to Newcastle, really.” Shiro nodded.  
Keith let out a short laugh. “I think I could use a skill like that. And you?” He turned to look at the younger girl.  
“I collect information, do calculations, everything that takes brain,” Katie adjusted her glasses. “Or spy on our customers or competition. I do that too. Oh, and when Shiro sees a cute boy in the street I find the boy for him. So yeah I guess I’m pretty helpful.”  
“You- wait what?” Keith had to cough to hide his embarrassment. His faced turned a deep shade of red. Shiro kicked Katie under the table, eliciting a short “ouch!” from her.    


After a long moment of quiet, Keith asked quietly.  
“…Did you find something embarrassing?”  
“Like what?” Katie smirked.  
“I don’t know… High school photos?” he mumbled. “I was pretty ugly when I was 16.”  
After a long unsure moment of silence, Katie started laughing out loud, and after her so did Allura. All of a sudden, all of them were laughing. When the waiter came back with their drinks, Katie was still giggling, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.  
Shiro caught Keith’s eyes, and when no one else was looking he gestured with his lips ‘ _nice save’_. The singer just shrugged and smiled in return.

“So anyway,” Allura talked after the spirits calmed back down and Katie finally stopped giggling uncontrollably, “You already know this, but Shiro does the actual designing part of things. And that’s it, this is our little team.”  
“Wow,” Keith looked slightly in awe. “You’re all so talented, that’s… pretty cool.”  
“What about you?” Katie asked, a wondering look on her face.  
Keith shifted his eyes to the side, slightly biting his lower lip before an embarrassed grin appeared on his face. “I’m just… singing in the streets, I guess. Sometime I get lucky and I can fill an empty slot in a bar or something like that. But it’s nothing permanent. I just kinda live with my friends.”

“Must be fun.” Shiro wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he had to save Keith and change the subject. The boy just seemed almost ashamed, and for a moment it made Shiro’s heart twitch. “Maybe I should meet them.”  
“Oh god,” Keith shook his head. “That might be a disaster.”  
“Why, afraid I’m gonna make a bad impression?” Shiro raised one eyebrow.  
“I’m afraid you’ll make such a good impression that I will never hear the end of it.”  
“I will act _really_ gross.”  
He couldn’t help but feel relieved when Keith turned back to look at him.  
“Deal.” 

Thankfully for all of them, the food arrived shortly after.

 

\--

 

Why did he think coming here was a good idea?  
Not that Shiro’s friends weren’t nice, he actually kind of liked both of them. And of course, he was happy seeing Shiro again so soon. At the beginning it seemed like it’s going to be a great evening.    
But then as the night went on he started to feel somewhat out of place. They were so well put together that it made him feel as if he was an invader sneaking into a world that can’t really be his own. He had absolutely no doubt about it- Shiro was way above his league.  

They already finished most of the food when he felt like he couldn’t take it anymore. He had to go out and take a breath of the cold night air. He had to remind to himself that he’s still in his own world, because for the past hour he almost felt life he was in a different universe.

“Excuse me, um,” he mumbled quietly, getting up from his place before adding. “I’m… going to the bathroom for a moment.”  
Keith didn’t wait for a replay before walking away, not to the bathroom but straight outside. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the humid air calm him down. Then he took another breath, and another after that.

Somewhere around the fifth deep breath he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
“I’m sorry,” Shiro’s voice reached his ears, soft and reassuring. “I shouldn’t have made you come to dinner with us.”  
Keith hummed, opening his eyes to look at the man standing next to him.  
“Don’t say that, it was my choice to come.”  
“But… You look sad.” Shiro looked like he was really concerned. Not just politely asking, but actually wanting an answer. It warmed Keith’s heart, and made him like the other even more. Damn it.  
“I’m a little bit sad,” he nodded, “but it’s a good kind of sad.”  
“What’s a good kind of sad?” Shiro’s face wore a confused and yet amused expression. Keith moved so he could stand directly in front of the other, a smirk appearing on his face.

“I can’t tell you, you have to feel it for yourself to know.”  
Shiro still looked dumbfounded, but a grin rose to his lips. “That’s the weirdest thing you told me yet.”  
“It’s only weird because you don’t understand it,” Keith hummed, tilting his head to one side and looking up at the other from the corners of his eyes.

He waited for a long moment of silence, watching Shiro’s expression slowly change from confused to somber.  
“I do want to understand it.”  
And that was all he needed to hear in order to feel like they were, again, in the same world together. Hunk was right, wasn’t he? Who cares what league he is in Keith’s head? In reality, Shiro was standing right there with him.

Keith rose to his toes, brushing his lips against Shiro’s cheek for just a tiny moment. Then he got back down and looked away. Looking at the other’s face after what he just did was way too embarrassing.  
“Um… I don’t want to make you ditch Allura and Katie so… Let’s just meet again, okay?”

“A- I have some work to do but-,“ Shiro’s voice felt a little jumbled, obviously surprised by Keith’s actions. “We can meet the day after tomorrow… maybe?”  
“Just call me whenever.” Keith nodded, sneaking one last glance at the other. He was so beautiful, and possibly even redder than Keith himself. Thank god that the blush wasn’t too visible under the low lights.  
“I’ll call.”  
“Great. Good night for now.”

He already started walking away when he heard Shiro’s “Good night Keith”.  
The singer passed a corner into a smaller alley. When he was out of sight, he buried his face in his hands and let out a sigh of relief, accompanied by a small laugh.  
Maybe coming here wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my darlings <3  
> See you next time!


	4. Of Back Stories and Quiet Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So how did you find yourself in Rome?” Shiro asked. 
> 
> Keith bowed his head for a moment, making sure to look at the ground in order to hide his expression.  
> “I was sure you forgot about this.”

The next two days passed in a way that was completely normal and yet absolutely different. Keith dragged himself between good places to sing at, grocery shopping or time at the house. He did everything exactly the same as he did before, and yet still something changed. Something small, but apparent enough for him to realize it.  
He knew it wasn’t love, but it wasn’t quite a simple crush either. It was this nice, warm feeling of taking a liking to something new in your life, and being curious about it.  
And Keith was content with feeling like this.

When Shiro called (just as he promised, of course), Keith was walking from the center towards his home. The singer had a pretty decent morning, and the coins he collected rustled in his bag.  He answered as soon as he saw the name flashing on his screen.  
“Hey.”  
Shiro obviously wasn’t expecting such a quick replay. The _“Hey”_ he got in return was confused and unprepared.  
_“So, I’ve made some nice progress with the work and I might have some time. Are you free?”_

‘Obviously I am’ was the thought that float in Keith’s head. What he said out loud was, “Yeah, why not.”  
“ _Great_ ,” he could hear by his voice that Shiro was smiling. “ _This time you decide where we’re going_.”  
“You’d trust me with a taxi?” Keith asked in a playful tone, and Shiro laughed.  
“ _So we’re going far?_ ”  
“Mm,” Keith hummed. He chewed on his lower lip before speaking. “Not too much I think, I may have an idea.”  
“ _Tell me?_ ” Shiro wondered.  
“Of course not,” Keith let out a soft chuckle. “Meet me where we first met and we’ll go on from there. “I’ll wait there in…” he looked up at the street sign before changing his direction. “Half an hour.”

 _“Ok, see you there.”_ Shiro’s voice was so nice Keith was almost sad the conversation was about to end.  
“Bye.” He replied, his own voice almost a soft sigh.  
Well, soon enough he’ll get to hear this voice in person.

 

\--

 

He could spot Keith almost as soon as he got to the gardens in front of Piazza Venezia, the guitar case next to the singer sure did help him to.  Shiro took a few quick steps, getting to his place and sitting next to the other.  
“I hope you didn’t wait too much.”  
Surprised, Keith turned to look at him. “Is this becoming a habit for you? Sneaking up behind me?”  
“Just luck, I think.” Shiro shrugged.  
“Why luck?” Keith wondered.  
Shiro grinned as he turned to look at the white, beautiful monument before them. “That way I get to surprise you too a little.”  
“You surprise me a lot, actually.”  
“I do?” This time it was Shiro’s turn to wonder. He watched Keith as the younger man got up, hanging his guitar case on his shoulder before speaking.  
“Every time you call, pretty much.”

It seemed to Shiro that in some way, these words were incredibly sad, yet Keith did not linger over them, and instead turned to look at the taller man and reached out his hand.  
“So I’ve been thinking. You’re working so much you probably didn’t have enough time for tourist stuff, so we could do that. Walk around, see things.”  
“I can do that.” Shiro took the hand offered to help him get up, but kept holding it after he was already standing. “So what’s your favorite tourist place?”  
Keith took a moment, obviously perplexed by Shiro’s hand around his own. His voice came out like a small wave when he spoke.

 

“Well, you have been in the main building over there, right?”  
“M-hm,” Shiro nodded.  
“Ok, but have you been there?” Keith straightened his free hand and pointed to the right of the huge building, at what seemed like a small stairway.  
“No,” Shiro leaned in order to see the place better. “What’s there?”  
“Well, a museum.” The singer shrugged and started walking, pulling Shiro after him. “But if you go all the way out there there’s a balcony where you can see all the ruins of the ancient city. That’s pretty neat.”    
“So I guess we’re going there,” Shiro smiled, following the younger man.

They had to struggle their way past the many tourists walking up and down the stairs, blocking the road at times. Shiro tightened his grip on Keith’s hand, making sure he won’t lose him in the crowd. After they managed to get to the square plaza at the top, he turned to look at the black haired boy.  
“Where to now?”  
“There,” Keith pointed, pulling Shiro after him. “Come, I’m sure you’ll love it.”  
“I believe you.” Shiro laughed, following Keith between the people into a narrow alleyway. When they got to the other side, they were standing on a balcony, looking down at old columns and brick roads and trees. In the back he could even see the famous Colosseum towering above the ruins.

 

“Wow.” Shiro muttered, scanning the view. “It does look different from up here.”  
“Told you.” Keith had a proud smile on his face. He leaned forward, putting his elbows or the metal bars and pulling Shiro forward with him. The taller man had no choice but to lean next to the singer.  
“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve learned about these arcs?” He laughed. “You’d think one time is enough, but no.”  
“I didn’t learn about them at all, so, tell me,” Keith smiled softly.  
“You’re serious?” Shiro asked, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.  
“Yeah why not, I like listening to you talk.”

Really, how could he say no after that? Shiro gestured towards one of the arcs before he started talking. He talked about stuff he didn’t even know he remembered, facts that he knew weren’t at all important. He talked and Keith listened, and the singer had this expression on his face that made it clear he was actually paying attention to every stupid thing Shiro said. He had to admit to himself, he really enjoyed this.

“Okay, but there’s one fact you missed.” Keith commented once Shiro had finished.  
“What is it?”  
“Over there.” Keith pointed to a small road on the side. “There’s a crocked part on one of the stairs. So if you wait long enough you’ll see people fall.”  
“No way,” Shiro chuckled. “And no one fixed it?”  
“Fixing it is a big deal because it’s an historic site so… They just don’t do that. And they don’t tell anyone, but if you'll sit here long enough you'd get it.”  
“I just can’t believe that, you’re fucking with me.” Shiro shook his head.  
“I am not. I swear.” Keith laughed. “I never lie.”  
“Never?” Shiro turned to look at him, an unbelieving smirk on his face.

“Well… Most of the time.” The black haired boy shrugged it off with a smile. “But it gave me an idea for where we’re gonna go to next! Let’s go, we need a taxi.”

 

-

 

After a short drive, they got to a place Shiro had to admit looked not nearly as impressive.  
“That’s…” he started, but Keith cut him off.  
“A pretty lame church, I know.” He smiled and nodded. “But do you know what ‘Bocca della Verità’ is?”  
“Nope,” Shiro had to admit. He tried to think back to his studies, but nothing seemed to pop out. “Not a clue.”

“Great,” the singer smiled and adjusted the guitar case on his back before going inside. There were considerably less people over here, which made sense- as they were farther from the center.  It’s not like it was empty, but they could stroll quietly to the back yard. There, Keith led the other to the end of a short line before he started talking.

“So in English, this is called ‘The Mouth of Truth’.”  
“That is awfully dramatic.” Shiro had an amused smile on his face.  
“Oh, it’s _very_ dramatic.” Keith let out a short laugh. “You put your hand in the statues mouth, and if you lie…” He turned so he would be facing Shiro, a menacing look in his eyes as he clapped one of his hands against the other wrist. “It shuts its teeth and cuts your hand off!”  
“That’s a nice story,” Shiro chuckled.  
“It’s not a story, it’s real.” Keith obviously wasn’t serious, but he was pretty committed and Shiro did not see any harm in following his lead.  
“Oh really?” he asked, both eyebrows raised.  
“Sure, one time I saw someone who lied. It was ugly. Blood everywhere.” A wide smirk was resting on Keith’s face as he talked, he tilted his head to the left and then to the right. “I wouldn’t mess with magic if I were you.”

“Well, if you’re so sure about it, how about you go first? Set an example.” Shiro gestured towards the statue in front of them. It was a large stone disc resting on a small column against the wall. It had a huge face carved on it, details faded because of its age, but with a very obvious open mouth that was big enough for a palm to fit.

“Okay then,” The younger boy shrugged, smiling again before resting his hand inside the mouth. “You get one question, so choose wisely.”   

 

He was sure at least 10 questions popped into his mind at once. Asking something and knowing he’s going to get an answer- not another silence, not another ‘next time’. How could he choose just one question? At this moment, it seemed to him like he wanted to know so much. Shiro let out a soft sigh before speaking, he examined the black haired boy as he spoke.  
“So how _did_ you find yourself in Rome?”

Keith bowed his head for a moment, making sure to look at the ground in order to hide his expression.  
“I was sure you forgot about this.”  
“Hey.” Shiro bent down enough so he could see the other face. “I really want to know, honest.”  
“Mean.” Keith’s voice was not much more than a whisper when he said that, but he smiled and turned his eyes to look back at the other. “Now I _really_ can’t say no”.

He adjusted his weight and leaned on one leg before starting to speak.

"So there was this guy, and I'm barely 18 back then, so to me he looked like the coolest guy in the world. Like… Really cool. He had a car, he was driving around smoking cigs all day, talking about the big world. And he always says he has connections in London. He always says stuff like _‘I promise you baby if you go with me to London I can hook you up because man you're talented. You deserve it’_." He stopped, raising his free hand to tuck some hair behind his ear, a bitter smile on his face.  
"So I took all the money I had back than- It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough- I took it, and my guitar and a huge backpack filled with clothes and I went with him. And after I slept with him a few times and gave him like half of my fucking money the bastard just disappeared. Completely gone."

"Keith..." Shiro chewed on his lower lip. He wasn't expecting a story like _that_. It made him feel as if he misused the situation.  
"You don't have to..."

"It's ok." The younger man smiled at him. "I'm already done with the depressing part. Anyway, I didn't have much money left after that. So I thought to myself, 'maybe I should just travel, and try to make it somewhere or something like that’. I took the train from London to Paris because I was tired of the cold weather. And I kept going from big city to big city until I got here. Here I ran out of money... that's when Lance- he's one of my roommates now- found me on the street next to the bar he works at. After that I met Hunk as well and they're pretty nice people so... I just stayed with them. They’re cool dudes, I like them. So I guess I didn’t really find a reason to leave yet.”

 

Shiro wasn't sure what to say. He had even more questions racing in his head than before Keith started talking. He found the person standing in front of him so perplexing, so fascinating, so different from everything he knew in his own life. And he wanted to know more.

“But why-“  
Keith cut him off by placing one finger on his lips, half a smile lingering on his face. “I said one question.” He continued to take his palm out of the statues mouth and wave it in front of the taller man’s face.  
“See? Didn’t lie.”  
“I could see that without the statue, geez.” Shiro said after moving the other’s finger from his lips.  
“Don’t dwell on it. Okay?” the look it the singer’s eyes was pressing, “I didn’t mean to tell you a sad story but that’s just kind of my life, and I don’t need any pity for it.”

He didn’t give Shiro a lot of time to think about it before grabbing his arm and pulling him from the in front of the statue and back in to the end of the line. A lady glared at them as they passed.  
 “That took too long and the family behind us got pretty impatient.” He explained.  
Shiro had to admit to himself that he didn’t even noticed there were more people behind them until Keith pointed it out.  
“Okay then, but why-“  
“I’m not letting you get away with your turn.”

Shiro hummed in understanding. Yeah, that did seem fair. He stared at the line for a moment before shifting his eyes to Keith. “It’s not that I pity you, by the way. I mean, yeah I do feel sorry for what you’ve gone through and you can’t really blame me for it. But more than that I’m just… really intrigued. You’re interesting, like a riddle I really want to understand.”  
“Shiro, I-” Keith started, but this time it was Shiro who cut him with a confidence filled smile.  
“Don’t worry, I do plan on figuring you out.”

The expression on Keith’s face didn’t resemble anything he’s seen from him up until now. He seemed genuinely surprised, unsure, maybe even a little bit scared. And behind it all he could swear there was hurt in the singer’s eyes.

“Sometimes you are _very_ easy to read.” Shiro grinned. He brushed his hand on Keith’s shoulder before walking forward. It was already their turn again, and he placed his hand inside the statues mouth.  
“There you go.”  
“Um, just a sec,” Keith mumbled, finally remembering to move forward and stand next to the other. A soft sigh came out of his mouth, and he closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them up again and looked at Shiro, he had a soft, unsure smile on his face.

“Would you be fine with it if I kissed you right now? Because I _really_ want to.”

Shiro could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. He knew he should’ve expected the unexpected, but still, he did not see this coming.  
Not that it was an unpleasant surprise.  
“Yes, I would.”  
  
For a moment, the world disappeared. He saw nothing but the black haired boy rising on his toes and putting one hand on his face. He let Keith pull him down the rest of the distance and join their lips together. It was, by far, the sweetest thing he tasted during his trip. It didn’t take him long to take his hand out of the statue, placing it on Keith’s nape and pulling him closer, taking over the kiss as he did so. He nibbled at the singer lower lip, caressing it with his tongue right after, as if he was scared to hurt the other even in the slightest way.  
He probably shouldn’t have been so scared, because Keith let out a tiny moan at the touch, slightly opening his lips and slipping his own tongue out to meet Shiro’s. 

“Ah-em”.  
A stern, loud cough from behind them broke the moment. When Shiro (sadly) moved back he could see an old man looking at both of them disapprovingly.  
“Young boys,” The man said, “We are in a **_church_**. Please make sure to remember that.”

“Oh fuck- um- I mean- Ah.” Keith started, but stopped when he realized he was probably making things worse. He covered his mouth with his hand, unsuccessfully hiding a chuckle.  
“I’m sorry, father.” Shiro put his hands on Keith’s shoulder, gently pushing him towards the exit. “We shall be heading out, then. Yeah… Forgive us.”  
He hurried his steps once they were passed the man, franticly leading the other towards the entrance. They arrived outside just in time. As Keith couldn’t hold it anymore and just started uncontrollably laughing out loud.

 

“He wasn’t even a— priest,” He said in between bursts of laughter. “You just— called a random man- father.”  
“I did?!” Shiro’s face was already red from before, and hearing this sure didn’t help.  
“Oh fuck, that’s embarrassing.”  
“That’s the best kind of embarrassing. Really amazing” Keith laughed so hard he had to wipe some tears from the side of his eyes.  Shiro had to admit that he liked it a lot, hearing and seeing the singer like this. He raised his hand to tuck Keith’s black hair back to its place, not even noticing how he let his fingers linger against the other’s face for a short moment as he did so.  Keith’s face was a bright shade of pink when he looked back at him. And Shiro was already about to say something before-

“Don’t say something cheesy.” Keith said before he had a chance to let out even one word. “It will ruin the moment.”  
Shiro grinned, somewhat confused as he answered. “How would I know what you find cheesy?”  
“Probably anything you just thought about saying.” Keith nodded.  
“That’s unfair.” Shiro furrowed his brows.

“Well, I never said I was fair.” Keith adjusted the case on his shoulders back to a comfortable position. Then he proceeded to lend his hand out towards Shiro. “Let’s head back?”  
“Yeah.” The smile got back into Shiro’s face as soon as he took the hand offered to him. They found an empty taxi and drove back to the center, barely talking at all. Once Keith told him a story he remembered about a Café they passed. Another time Shiro got to explain something he knew about an old building they saw.  
And that was enough. When Keith leaned against his shoulder, he forgot the need for words and felt content just sitting there in silence.

 

The drive was over before he noticed. He paid the driver and they both got out to the busy street. Just like that, they were nothing but another part of the crowed again.  
“So I guess you better get back to your work, huh?” Keith murmured. Shiro glanced at his watch, raising his eyebrows in surprise. When did it become this late?  
“Yeah I… probably should.”

He noticed the other seemed a little bit down by this. So Shiro put one hand on his chin and turned the singer’s face up towards him, brushing his lips against Keith’s for a short moment before adding.  
“I’ll call as soon as I can.”

That seemed to help. Keith smiled, and snuck another short kiss before moving away.  
“Okay, talk to you later then.”  
Shiro continued to watch the singer walking until he disappeared from his sight, then he turned towards the hotel, back to his own normal life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, if you actually survived 10K words for them to kiss- I applaud you and also thank you very much.  
> You are a true hero. 
> 
> Have a heart <3  
> Also here's my tmblr I probably should've posted it earlier. It got some of my Voltron art.  
> http://shanigrim.tumblr.com/


	5. Of Things that Happen in a Bar's Bathroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’d go after him if I were you.” Lance’s voice was surprisingly quiet behind him. He pushed a small shot glass filled with liquor towards Shiro. “For courage.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eyyyyyy : D

Keith was staring at the small kitchen table for what seemed like forever, deep in thoughts. It’s been two days since his last date with Shiro, and no matter how much he tried thinking about other things- he ended up going back there, kept thinking about the other.   
He sighed, ruffling his own hair before leaning back on the chair.   
“I think I have a problem.”

Hunk was in the middle of practicing a new dish, slicing vegetables with ease. He put the knife down and turned around, looking at the singer.   
“What is it?”   
Keith bit his lower lip before mumbling. “I _really_ like him.”   
Hunk, deciding it’s probably going to be a serious conversation, left his place near the counter and sat on an empty chair.   
“And this is a bad thing because?”

Keith furrowed his eyebrows. “Because he’s a tourist, of course! It was supposed to be just some casual fun, not me falling for someone who’s not gonna stay here.”  
“Keith,” Hunk puffed his cheeks for a moment and then continued. “Don’t take it the wrong way; but we’re not gonna stay here forever either, and neither are you. I don’t think you need to be afraid from something that is obviously good for you just because of this.”  
“I guess…” Keith twisted his lips to a tiny pout. Honestly, speaking with Hunk about his problems was always a smart choice. The other always seemed to have at least one tasteful thing to say every time the conversation got serious.

“You’re not convinced though.” Hunk nodded at the expression on the singer’s face.   
“I don’t think so.” Keith shrugged.  “I just… Don’t want to get hurt again.”  
“Well, it’s your choice if you want to take that risk or not. But, you know… you’re never gonna know what you’re missing if you won’t try.” Hunk got back to the counter at the sound of the water boiling.   
“Besides.” He continued, picking up where he stopped a few moments ago. “I’d say he seems like a good person but I _still_ hadn’t seen him.”

“Point taken. I keep forgetting it.” Keith thanked in his heart for the quick topic change. He scratched the top of his head before reaching for his phone. “There, I’ll do it now, before I forget.”  
He tapped on his phone until he reached to Shiro’s contact picture, and sent a massage.

_‘Send me a picture of yourself’_

His screen lit up a minute later.   
_‘Good day to you too. Why?’  
_ Keith turned his head up from his phone to the counter. “He’s asking why I want a picture and I’m going to sell you out.”

Before Hunk had the chance to answer, a third man walked into the kitchen. Lance obviously just woke up, he had a sleepy look on his face, and his hair was a mess, sticking up in every direction. Still, he was awake enough to have that annoying smile- a smile that had _‘I’m going to say something really stupid_ ’ written all over it.

“Just tell him you need it for sexual reasons dude.”

If looks could kill, Lance would definitely be dead right now.   
“I **will** hurt you.” Keith hissed.   
“What? Thant’s what you’re gonna use it for at the end anyway.” Lance shrugged, making sure to take the long way to the fridge in order to avoid Keith’s reach.  Successfully avoiding the arm flying his way.   
“It’s not your business if I will!”  
“Just saying,” Lance hummed. “You didn’t deny i-ouch!” He stopped when Keith flung a small plastic spoon at the back of his head. “Okay! Got it! Sheesh!” 

_‘My roommates want to see how you look’_  
  
“So did you say it?” Hunk asked absentmindedly, stirring spices into a burning pan.   
“Of course not.” Keith shook his head. He turned back to the screen when a new massage flashed. It was a selfie picture of Shiro and Allura. _‘She saw me taking a picture and insisted on joining’_ , Shiro explained.

“There.” Keith turned the phone around to face Hunk, who stepped away from the counter to look.   
“Oh, He is cute.” He smiled in approval.   
“Whoa, whoa, **whoa**!” Lance jumped in front of the phone, a surprised look in his eyes. “Who is she?! She’s beautiful!”   
“That’s Allura. She is Shiro’s friend and co-worker.” Keith explained.   
“What a babe.” Lance swooned. “I think I’m in love.”

“You don’t have a chance.” Keith taunted, a wide smirk appearing on his face.   
“Aw come on!” The tanned boy waved his hands before sitting on one of the chairs. Hunk laughed, going back to his cooking.  “You should invite him over.” He said.   
“Here?” Keith looked around the kitchen. “ _We_ barely fit here all together.”   
“I’ll cook” Hunk smiled.   
Keith considered it before nodding. “That _is_ pretty tempting. I’ll think about it”

 

-

 

It took him the full day until he finally decided to call. He told himself that Shiro was probably busy with work, and he shouldn't bother him. That was a good enough excuse for Keith to put off the call for later. Then the night came and this excuse was no longer valid. Keith took a deep breath before dialing Shiro's number.

It's been a few moments that felt like forever before he heard the other pick up.

_"Hey."_

"Hey you..." Keith could feel a smile rising to his lips. He had to scold himself for acting like a little girl. "How's the work going?"  
_"It's going great."_ Shiro's voice came out nice and sure, he sounded pleased _. "Looks like we're pretty much finished. We have a meeting this Monday to hand in the designs."_  
Keith glanced at his phone. "So two days from now, huh."

_"How was your day?"_

"Pretty normal." Keith shrugged. He examined the wall on top on his bed. It was a white wall with various papers stuck onto it with no particular order. Papers filled with lines of songs the singer promised himself he'll finish someday.   
"So if you're free tomorrow, do you wanna come over..."  
_"Hm?"_  
"...to the bar where we met before?"   
Keith had to hold back a sigh. It didn't even take him one second to chicken out. Maybe next time.

It seemed like Shiro noticed something was off, but he chose not to mention it.   
  
_"Yeah, why not. It's better than staying at my room stressing over the meeting."_  
"You? Stressing?" Keith couldn't help being amused at the picture that popped into his head.  
_"I stress a lot. You have no idea_." Shiro laughed. _“Don't tell anybody."_  
"I won't." Keith laughed back, passing his fingers through his long bangs. "Cross my heart."

_"See you tomorrow then?"_

"Tomorrow..." Keith muttered, a tiny gentle grin on his face. "Yeah".

After he hung up, he stared at his phone for a long moment before throwing it on the bed. The phone bumped against the sheets before bouncing to the floor, and Keith didn't bother picking it back up.

 

-

 

It was a Sunday evening, which meant there were going to be a lot more people than when Keith sang here. Keith got there early with Lance, and helped him prepare the bar for the evening. Not that Lance needed help, but Keith was there anyway and it was better than just sitting and doing nothing.

“What type of drink do you want first, huh?” Lance said with a playful smirk, “Better be something strong.”  
Keith rubbed a small towel against a tall glass before putting it in its place under the bar. “I don’t know if we’re gonna get drunk, honestly.”  
“Aw please!” Lance protested, shaking his head from side to side. “You’re in a bar. No wait- you’re in my bar-“  
“Lance it’s not your-“  
“ **My** bar. So I’m not giving you any choice.” The expression on Lance’s face made it clear there will be no arguing with him. Keith sighed, and went back to wiping glasses clean.

 

An hour later, he was sitting against the counter, starring at the door and waiting for Shiro to arrive.  There was still some time before he was supposed to arrive, but for the singer it felt like Shiro was taking forever.   
Keith turned around, shooting a glance at Lance before muttering, “You know what? I think I do need a shot.”   
“Say no more my dear.” With a wide grin and a few fast movements, Lance placed a small glass filled with bubbling alcohol in front of him. Keith took the glass and poured the liquid to his mouth in one shot, muttering “Thank you” after he finished.   
“No prob,” Lance nodded, pointing at the entrance. “Your boyfriend is here.”

“Oh.” Keith didn’t even bother correcting him before turning around to loot at the door, where Shiro was standing, searching for him. The singer stretched his arm up and waved, catching the other’s attention. Shiro smiled, made his way through the people and took a seat on the empty stool next to Keith. He brushed his hand against the younger man’s arm as he did so.   
“Hey.”  
“He-,“ Keith started but was cut off by Lance’s jokingly yet over dramatic tone.  
“ **Really**? ‘Hey’? At least give him a good-to-see-you-kiss come on!”   
Keith took a long, annoyed breath before gesturing at the man behind the bar. “Shiro, meet Lance.”

“Shiro, my man.” Lance handed out one arm, and Shiro proceeded to shake it, obviously a little confused. “Nice to meet the man that Keith is crushing over.”   
An embarrassed smile rose to Shiro’s lips. “Nice to meet you too.”   
“What can I get you?” Lance was already pointing at the variety of bottles behind him. “You know what don’t answer that, I’m gonna make it a surprise.”  He was already half way to the other side of the bar when Shiro looked back at Keith.   
  
“I’m sorry, he’s embarrassing.” Keith muttered.   
“No, he’s fine,” Shiro chuckled. “He does have a point.”  
“He does?”   
Shiro nodded, and then leaned forward. He brushed his lips against Keith’s, and the singer could feel his breath when he spoke. “Good to see you”.   
Keith could already sense heat rising to his cheeks, blush visible even under the low lights of the pub. God damn it Lance.    
“…Good to see you too.”   
  
“Look at that,” Lance came back with a loud whistle, placing two full glasses in front of them. “That’s more like it.”   
Keith (reluctantly) turned away from his date to look at the tanned boy. “Don’t you have work to do?”  
“Nah.” Lance smirked.   
“It’s okay, it’s cool.” Shiro said quickly, probably feeling the need to stop the two from bickering. He took one of the glasses to his hand, shifting his gaze between Keith and Lance before speaking. “I can see why you’re friends.”   
“You can?” Keith didn’t bother to hide his surprise. “Really?”   
“Yeah. He riles you up pretty well.”   
“It’s still illegal to kill someone.”  
“You don’t mean that.” Lane shook his head, turning to look at Shiro. “He doesn’t mean that. Forgive him.”

Keith would never admit it out loud, but he thanked god Lance was there. Honestly, he didn’t know what he was going to talk about, how he’s going to ask Shiro about… them. Lance being there saved him from the need to talk about it, even think about it at times. He’ll have to thank him later.   


“Anyway, since you’re here.” Lance continued without haste. “We have an important matter to talk about.”   
“We do? What’s the matter?” Shiro tilted his head to one side, an amused expression on his face.   
“Your beautiful goddess like looking friend. I have to meet her.”  
“He means Allura,” Keith explained. “He saw her in the picture you sent.”  
“Oh, we can arrange something.” Shiro laughed, and Keith could feel himself blushing just from hearing Shiro’s voice rolling so easily like that. “I’d warn you though, she’s hard to please.”  
“It’s cool,” Lance shrugged. “I don’t know how to take a no for an answer. Now drink up.”   
And with that he was gone again, off to take care of other costumers.

As he was gone, it quickly became quiet.   
“So when is your meeting tomorrow?” Keith was the first to speak, finally lifting the glass in front of him towards his mouth.   
“Around ten in the morning.” Shiro answered, leaning on his elbow against the bar and turning to look at the singer.   
“Tell me how it goes?”   
“Yeah, sure.” He promised, and didn’t wait long before moving forward, like it wasn’t really a big deal. “So this is where you sing?”   
“Sometimes, yeah.” Keith brushed some hairs away from his face, looking at the stage that was now empty. “They have live music sometimes, of live shows- mostly standup and stuff. I can get a slot if Lance pulls some strings, but it’s nothing permanent.”  
“You should search another bar to sing in, I’m sure you can get a nice job.” Shiro finished his glass and put it back on the counter. He leaned closer to the other after he did so, and Keith kept his eyes on the stage. He wondered what he’ll see in those eyes if he’ll just look back at the tourist, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so.   
“Maybe one day.”

“Keith, I…” Shiro sighed. He let his hand rise from the counter and find its way to the singer, fingers playing brushing through his hair, gently tangling some black and maroon streaks around them. Keith tilted his head closer, closing his eyes for a long moment before talking.     
“What it is?” he mumbled, barely audible.   
“I’m not sure it’s my place to tell you what to do, honestly. But I don’t think you should be so scared.”  Shiro’s hand stopped against his face, and Keith bit his lower lip from the inside before opening his eyes and glancing at the other.   
“How do you know I’m afraid?”   
“Didn’t I tell you you’re very easy to read sometimes?”

“I guess you did.” Keith sighed. He moved away from Shiro’s hand and got up, absently pointing towards the bathroom before adding “I’m going to wash my face.”   
He didn’t let Shiro a chance to replay before he crossed his way to the small room, wondering for a second when will he actually face the taller man instead of just running.   

 

\--

 

Shiro wasn’t even sure what he did wrong. Keith seemed distracted from the moment he got here, but he thought he handled it pretty well until the singer just walked away. He exhaled slowly before passing a hand through the longer part of his bangs.   
  
“I’d go after him if I were you.” Lance’s voice was surprisingly quiet behind him. “I mean he plays it all dramatic and stuff but I’m pretty sure he’d like you doing that.”   
When Shiro turned to stare at him, the Latino pushed a small shot glass filled with liquor towards him. “For courage.”  
Shiro hesitated for a moment. Should he really go after him? What if it just makes things worse? But Lance gave an encouraging nod and Shiro just took the shot in a sharp, quick movement. He slammed the glass against the table before rising up from his chair.   
“I’m going.”   


  

He made his way between the tables until he got to the back side, where a wooden door with the toilet sign on it was waiting for him. Shiro took a deep breath before knocking.   
“Keith?”   
When he didn’t get any answer, he pressed against the handle. Luckily the door wasn’t locked, and it opened as he did so. Shiro peeked inside to make sure Keith was there. The boy was leaning against the sink, letting the water flow in front of him without actually touching them. He didn’t seem to notice- or just chose to act like he didn’t- when Shiro went inside and closed the door after him.

“Hey, look at me. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say anything uncomfortable.” He spoke softly, walking towards the other and standing behind him. He played with the hairs on the back of his head. Still no replay, but Keith’s shoulder seemed to shake at the touch, so he knew he was listening.    
“You want me to leave?”  
For the first time since he got inside, Keith spoke. “No, please stay.”   
Shiro nodded, even though he wasn’t sure if the other could see it in the mirror. He kept playing with Keith’s hair for what seemed like a long minute. Shiro had to admit to himself that the singer was pretty even when sad, and the thought crossed his mind that this was probably the first time they were alone, with no other people around them. The moment he thought of that, he couldn’t help but lean forward, moving Keith’s long mullet to the side so he could plant a gentle kiss on the center of his nape.

Keith sighed deeply, and Shiro took it as a good sign. He moved upwards slowly, spreading small kisses on the back of the singer’s neck and passing his fingers through the black locks as he did so.  
“Don’t be sad…” He help up for a moment when he reached below Keith’s ear, drawing little circles with his finger before asking.   
“Can I…?”   
Keith nodded slightly, and Shiro moved his fingers away and pressed his lips against the place instead. He passed his tongue over the edge of Keith’s jaw, eliciting a tiny moan from the other that just made him press his lips harder.

He could feel the smaller body next to him shift, and Keith pushed Shiro slightly away only to turn around and face him. He pulled him back for a kiss before Shiro could catch a good look at his face. When they met, Keith’s lips were already hung open, blowing warm, thick air against Shiro’s mouth. He slipped his tongue out, gently moving it over the singer’s lower lip, putting one hand on the back on the back of his head to keep him close.

Keith didn’t wait for even a second before shoving his own tongue into Shiro’s open mouth. He brushed his hands against the taller man’s collar bones almost desperately, as if he needed the touch. The boy pressed his tongue over the roof of Shiro’s mouth and the tourist couldn’t help but moan back at the feeling. Not long has passed before their tongues were playing with each other, twisting and brushing and pushing back and forth. Every whimper that came out of Keith’s mouth made Shiro lean closer, until he had to put his free hand on the sink frame to stabilize himself. His other hand moved down from Keith’s head to his lower back, pressing their bodies closer.

Shiro opened his eyes, almost letting out a gasp when he looked down at the other. Keith was hunched backwards so badly, it almost felt like he’d fall into Shiro’s arms any second. The taller man leaned back just a little bit, enough to appreciate the long ruffled hairs and the red face and every little thing about the other.   
“God you’re beautiful…” he whispered.  
Keith opened his eyes, two violet orbs looking at him for a moment before he looked down. Something changed, the moment broke. The boy wiggled himself away from Shiro’s grip and took a step away, burying his face in his hands.   
  
“I can’t.” He muttered quietly.   
“I-it’s fine,” Shiro thanked the cold water was still running. He splashed some on his face before continuing. “I’m not pressuring you or-“  
“No. It’s not that.” Keith cut him off, lifting his face to look at him. “It’s not like I don’t _want_ to. Fuck, it’s the exact opposite. It’s just…” He sighed, rubbing his eyes until they turned red. “I can’t get attached to you only to have you leave me in like, one week from now or something.”

_‘Oh…’_  
Shiro realized then how he was so busy with work and everything that he didn’t even thought about this. How could he have been so careless? He took a deep breath before he started to talk.   
“It’s… really not up to me. If I don’t get the job I’ll have to leave, pretty soon too. Since I’m here on company funds I won’t be able to stay if we get a ‘no’. But if we manage to agree on a contract tomorrow, they want me to stay here at least for the early stages of the construction, which means I’ll say here for months, possibly more.”   
He stopped to examine Keith’s face. It was still red, but he seemed to have calmed down, even if just a little bit.

“We’re probably going to get it tomorrow. Katie did the research- we’re in the lead, by far. But I don’t want to tell you anything is for sure until I get an answer.”   
Keith pressed his lips tight against one another, then he nodded. “I understand.”   
He wasn’t sure what more to say, what more to do. Shiro moved slowly until he stood next to the other, gently caressing his hair back into place. Keith didn’t move, and Shiro took the time to think about words, focusing on the simple movement of his hand instead.   
“I’ll call, tell you as soon as I can. No matter what the answer is I’ll make sure to call you and let you know okay? Until then we just… wait, you don’t have to see me again between now and then. It shouldn’t take long, tomorrow, or worst case scenario the day after. Alright?”

Keith nodded again, his hands fiddling with the bottom of his shit.   
“So… you go out first then.”

Shiro wasn’t sure what else to say. He held his eyes on the singer until he got out of the bathroom, when he had to close the door and Keith was out of sight.   
Then he had no choice but to head out quietly.

 

\--

 

Fuck.   
He didn’t mean to ruin the night. It just… happened.   
Keith walked back to the sink, washing his face before looking at himself in the mirror. He reached out behind his ear, petting the spot where Shiro kissed him only a few minutes before.

“Fuck.” The next time he said it out loud, not just in his mind. He sprinkled more water on his head. And only got out when he was sure Shiro can’t possibly be in the bar anymore.   
His steps felt heavy, and as he sat back at the chair he left before, Lance turned to him with a confused look.   
“Where’s Sh-? “  
“Don’t.” Keith muttered quietly. “Not now.”   
Thankfully, the tanned boy seemed to understand it wasn’t a good time for his bubbly usual self. He didn’t say anything else, just wordlessly put a glass in front of Keith, and filled it up to the edge with liquor.   
“Thanks.” Keith lifted his hands and dragged the glass closer, letting his fingers slid up and down on it with a slow, calming rhythm.   
“Hey,” Lance smiled softly, “Don’t mention it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this chapter came out slightly depressing...  
> Might be a good time to mention this fic might get to explicit territory in a few episodes.


	6. Of Thoughts and First Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey.” Shiro started, but Keith placed a finger on his lips to stop him.   
> “No small talk,” he shook his head, “I need an answer first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took longer to upload since I was so busy with classes, so thank you for sticking with me.   
> But on the other hand, it's almost double the size of the previous episodes so... hope that helps.

He woke up much too early, or more accurately, just gave up on the pretense of sleeping after the 50th time turning around. It’s not like he could go back to sleep anyway, thoughts were already running through his mind, making his head a mess.

Keith grunted as he sat up. His head hurt, probably from drinking just a tiny bit too much. He ended up staying with Lance at the bar until the place closed. It was definitely better than walking home alone in the darkness and quietness of the night, but it did mean he ended up finishing a few more glasses. Which might have helped him fall asleep, but sure didn’t help him the morning after.

The singer shifted in his place slightly and reached for his phone. The clock showed 6 a.m. When was Shiro’s meeting…? Did he even tell him that?  Keith couldn’t remember. He just knew he had a few hours to burn, and that these hours are going to feel like forever.    

Keith shifted one last time, and then stood up. He reached for his closet and grabbed the first two pieces he could find. It was nothing special, just a pair of rugged jeans and an alien printed t-shirt. He then turned to the bathroom, making sure not to make too much noise on his way. Just because he couldn’t sleep didn’t mean the rest of the house had to suffer.

The cold water helped to mend the headache and wash away the stiffness in his body. Keith stood under the running stream for a few good, long minutes. With his eyes closed, he could focus on nothing but the sound of the drops hitting against the tile floor. Drip after drip after drip, and just like that, the fog in his brain started to fade. What should he do today? He should probably go out, distract himself. Yes, that might be a good thing to do. And if he is going out, he better go out fast, before Hunk and Lance wake up. Once they do they’ll probably have questions, and Keith wasn’t sure he had any answers.

_Yeah… it would probably be best to just go outside._

He came out of the shower quickly after deciding this. With hair tied up, still wet and dripping water on the back of his shirt, Keith got out to the street. It was fairly calm at this hour. He could see the garbage truck at the edge of the road, a few early birds that had to get to work, and that’s it. It got a little bit more crowded when he got to the tram station, but it didn’t really bother him. Actually, it was better than being alone.

The singer found himself a seat next to a young business woman. She seemed irritated, and talked in a swift and sure tone to someone on the other side of the phone. Someone who, from what Keith could understand, fucked up some sort of deal pretty thoroughly.

When the woman got out, he moved to another seat. This time he sat behind two students, one of them boasting about the date he had over the weekend.

When they left at their stop, he just moved to the next seat, and so on. Always finding someone who was talking, someone he could listen to instead of thinking about his own problems.

 

This worked until they got to the end of the drive. The driver gave him a glare through the mirror.   
“You gotta get off kid. You’re the last one here anyway. Pickpocketing won't help against me.”  
Keith nodded. “Yeah… I guess you’re right. Sorry for creeping you out, but I wasn't stealing anything, just thinking. You can check my pockets.”  
“Love problems?” the driver seemed to dim him as safe after getting a replay, and the expression on his face turned warmer. “Boys your age always get worked up over silly things like that, then act like it’s the end of the world.”  
The young man shrugged, “I don’t think it's love.”  
“Then lose the long face.” The driver nodded. “Here’s my advice: if it’s not love, it isn’t worth the pain.”  
“…Thanks.” Keith nodded and jumped through the open door of the tram.

The streets were much fuller at this hour, and Keith found himself strolling idly to wherever his feet led him. He followed the roads slowly, noticing the growing amount of people around him. Which probably meant he was getting closer to a location popular with tourists.  
A few moments later he could see the Spanish Steps.  
_Not such a bad place to get to, actually._

Keith rather liked the old, white steps, even when they were covered with people. This place was always filled with couples, which was good for business, but also nice for the soul. The black haired man decided it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to sit here for a while.  
So that’s exactly what he did. It’s not like he had any plans anyways. He sat on the stairs, casually resting his elbows on his knees, and allowed his eyes and mind drift away once more.

Violet irises moved back and forth, resting on a street seller trying to shove roses into another woman’s hand. The roses were always such a scam. Somehow it seemed like the sellers knew the exact time to sell the flowers, so that they will look kind of ok, but will wilt that same day after you paid for them. Almost like it was some sort of evil magic. Still, Keith had to admit, he’d want to buy a rose once. Just for the sake of being absolutely sappy.

His mind seemed to take this as a permission to run forward, going on and on about how yeah, once in his life he would like to be helplessly, stupidly romantic. Like they did in the movies, or in books. Like once before in his life, he believed he could be. It might be nice to just go cliché after cliché, do all these stuff without the fear of being abandoned in the end. Goddammit, he would never admit it aloud, but being sappy and silly just once seemed like such a nice idea.

He never thought about things like that before. He was always just… Kind of alright with how his life was going. He had already convinced himself that anything romantic was just a huge pile of bullshit. It really wasn’t that hard after he got hurt so much.

So why now? Was Shiro… that special? Keith could already tell nothing in the tourist resembled anything in his life. Shiro was put together, well organized and well on his feet, sure. But it wasn’t just that, Shiro seemed to be shining so bright, as if he was a spectacle. A wonderful mirage Keith wanted to keep so badly, but knew he would most likely disappear the moment the singer will try and grasp onto him.   

_“If it’s not love, it isn’t worth the pain.”_  
Yeah, right. Easy to say. Harder to do.  
_…Maybe it’s hard because you falling in love like an idiot._  
Fuck. Keith shook his head firmly from side to side, rubbing his palms against his eyes. What kind of thought was that? They know each other for a **week**.  He liked him, sure. And he was absolutely down for spending a night or two together. But love? No. With a sigh, he sent his hand to his left back pocket, where he would normally put his phone- only to discover nothing was there.

The young man immediately shot himself up to his feet. Did he drop the phone? Did someone steal it? How could he not notice? He took a long, slow breath before tracing his steps in his mind. Last time he saw the damn thing was in the bathroom.  
_Great, just the day to forget your phone._

For a second. He contemplated the idea of this being fate. Maybe he forgot the phone because there’s only bad new coming his way.  
Still, his feet already lunged down the stairs and back to the tram. The electrical clock at the station showed the hour to be about half past 10, flashing in green letters, and right after it, the time until the next ride. 8 minutes.

Keith sighed. It was funny, actually. Up until now he didn’t even care for the damn thing, but the moment he discovered the phone wasn’t there- he became anxious. Restlessly, he tapped his fingers against his hip, stretching and looking into the distance once in a while as if the tram is ever going to come early just because of his stares.

The ride back home seemed to take forever. Keith’s eyes would jerk up to the clock on the front door once every few minutes to look at the time like this would make the ride go faster. He jumped off the tram first, half walking half jogging back to the small apartment he called home. By the time he got to the front door, he was already panting, face slightly red from running.

“Look who finally decided to show up!” Lance greeted him with a loud remark and an eye roll. “You forgot-“  
“My phone, I know.” Keith nodded. The question was already lingering on his lips, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to ask it. “Did…?”  
“It rang like crazy, like, an hour ago. I counted **at least** seven calls.” The tanned men threw the phone towards him, and Keith caught it midair. He swept the lock screen and opened the call log. Shiro’s name was flashing six times with the red symbol on an unanswered call next to it. And one time and the orange mark on an incoming call. Keith turned his head back up and shot a glare at the other.

“You answered?!”  
“Had no choice dude.” Lance shrugged. “I thought he might go crazy if I didn’t. Like what if he thought you died?” He noticed the worried look on the singer face and quickly added. “I just told him you’re an idiot who went out without his phone and gave him the address so he could come he-“  
“You **what?!** ”

“You know you keep cutting me off all the time,” Lance muttered. “What’s the big deal?”  
“He can’t come h- there’s still empty Chinese food boxes on the table! This place is a mess-“by that point, Keith knew he was absolutely freaking out. Any illusion of calmness he had this morning was completely gone by now. “Oh my god! Where’s Hunk?”  
“Hunk has to work Keith, you know it’s restock day.”  
“Oh, right.” Keith let out a long sigh.

“Relax Kogane.” Lance spoke, and Keith realized how visible his panic must have looked, as the other would only called him by his last name in times of desperate need. He passed a hand through his black locks, taking a long, slow breath. And then he took another one.   
“Okay.” The singer muttered after a very long moment. “I’m fine.”  
“Good.” Lance smirked. “Then, just wait for him outside the place. If it’s good news go out on a date or something and if it’s bad just come back up and I’ll pat your back while you cry like a little girl.”  
“Damn Lance. You were almost really nice for a moment and you just had to ruin it.” Keith let out a short laugh. It did help the stress though.

“I have been way too nice to you in the past few days. Need to balance.” Lance shrugged, enjoyment showing clear on his face.   
“Cool. Then I’ll head out.” Keith nodded before turning back on his heels and out to the street. There, he rested his back against the wall near the front door to the building, and waited.

 

A few minutes passed before he noticed a cab stopping at the edge of the street. Keith had to hold back an impressed gasp when Shiro came out of the car, wearing a suit that was so organized and slick he looked straight out of a magazine. All of a sudden, he was more than aware of the green alien decorating the front of his shirt, and the large rips on his washed out pants. Maybe he should get a suit… Or at least a buttoned up.

But then Shiro looked at him and smiled so bright and none of it really mattered. His disconnected himself from the wall and walked towards the other.  
“Hey.” Shiro started, but Keith placed a finger on his lips to stop him.   
“No small talk,” he shook his head, “I need an answer first.” He took a step back and moved his hand, examining the other’s face. The taller man’s face showed mostly surprise for a moment, as if he didn’t expected Keith to be so bluntly direct.

Then he smiled.  
“We got the job. I’m staying.”  
Keith could feel his heart skip a beat. He was already so prepared for bad news, that the thought of receiving good ones didn’t cross his mind at all. All of a sudden, it seemed like the spectacle in front of him won’t fade so easily. A smile rose to his face before the boy could even realize it.

And just like that Keith found himself jumping up and wrapping his arms around Shiro’s shoulders, creating folds in the perfectly neat suit as he did so.  Luckily, Shiro was quick to catch him. The taller man left one arm on Keith’s lower back, keeping the singer from sliding away.  
“You’re actually staying.” Keith mumbled, a soft smile still on his face when he turned his head up and locked eyes with the other.   
“Yes I am." Shiro used his free hand to sooth the bangs on Keith's head. "May I kiss you now?"  
"Sure." Keith hummed, idly biting his lower lip. He closed his eyes as Shiro's head leaned closer. Their lips gently touched, no one in a hurry to move forward or pull back.

"Boy! Get a room!"  
Lance's voice filled the (thanks god) empty street. Keith moved away and looked up, finding Lance's lanky figure looking down at them from a window, an amused smirk on his lips.  
"Fuck off!" The singer furrowed his brows.

  
"You can't hurt me from over there!" Lance called back, and for a moment Keith contemplated the idea of giving up one of his shoes and throwing it at the other. He could manage with just one shoe for the day, right?  
"Okay." Shiro's voice was an immediate calming factor. He placed one hand on Keith's shoulder, "no one needs to get hurt."  
"Thank you, Shiro!" Lance turned his attention to the tourist. "Good news?"  
"Good news." Shiro nodded.  
"Great! Then tell your beautiful friend I'm waiting for our date." He waved his hand in an over dramatic manner and added. "Okay then have fun boys! Use prote-"

" **Lance**! Once I get back you're dead!"  
Luckily, the tanned man disappeared inside the house before Keith actually did say goodbye to his shoe. The singer shook his head, letting out an annoyed huff before turning back to look at Shiro- who seemed a tad confused and maybe also a little bit embarrassed.

“Um, yeah… well… You look fancy today.”  
“Oh! That’s just work clothes,” Shiro explained. “I had to be official because it was a meeting, and since I came here straight after.” He stop to release a short chuckle and shrugged. “I’d much rather wear something casual right now. This is too much.”  
Keith leaned closer to the other. “I think you look sexy,” he said in a quiet tone, barely a purr, and then started walking. He was sad to miss the reaction on Shiro’s face, but really, he didn’t think he could take it. He could hear the other exhaling sharply, and his steps on the ground as he caught up to Keith.

“You can’t just say something like that in public.”  
“I just did though.” Keith could feel a tiny smirk curving his lips up. “And there’s really no one around anyway.”  
“That’s foul play.” Shiro insisted. “You can’t just break the rules like that.”  
“Sure I can, just watch me. I'll break all the rules”  
“Is that a promise or a threat?” Shiro tilted his head.  
“Maybe a little bit of both.” Keith mused, “Maybe I’m just in a good mood.”

-

 

They spent the whole day together. Shiro had a few places he wanted to visit, and Keith gladly took him to every single one of them. It was _a lot_ , to say the least. And when it started getting dark outside and they finally sat down for ice cream and coffee in front of the Pantheon; the singer could feel his legs slowly but surely turn into stone.

He listened to Shiro finishing his explanation about the concrete dome in the building next to them before speaking.   
“I hate to say it, but I don’t think I can walk anymore today.”   
“Did we walk that much?” Shiro wondered, holding a cup of warm cappuccino between his palms. “I’m sorry, I didn’t really notice.”  
Keith furrowed his eyebrows in honest confusion. “Don’t your feet hurt?”  
Shiro shrugged. “I’ve had worse. Maybe you’re just out of shape.”

Keith let his eyes scan the other. Shiro was well built, his broad shoulders and chest noticeable even under the suit. It wasn’t the first time the singer noticed this.   
“I should’ve guessed you work out.” He said finally.   
The architect just casually shrugged in return.   
“When do you have time to do everything?” for a moment it was almost frustrating how perfect Shiro seemed. If Keith didn’t like him so much, he’s probably be jealous.   
“That’s easy, I just don’t sleep a lot.” The grin on the taller man’s face was wide and genuine, and Keith couldn’t help but laughing.   
“Touché.”

“Anyway, I’m sorry your feet hurt. I promise to take really good care of them tonight”. Shiro said it so casually, almost as if he was just talking about the weather. His face didn’t even change. Keith couldn’t help but choke on the sip of Coke he just took- to which a smirk finally rose on the other’s lips. As if he was saying ‘ _got you’_.   
“Now _that_ was a foul play.” The singer mumbled, rising one hand to cover his reddening face.   
“Two can play this game.” Shiro seemed to be pretty satisfied with himself. “And I’ve been planning my move for hours.”  
  
“Then I will admit defeat.” Keith lifted both of his hands up in the air as if he was surrendering.   
“Cute” Shiro leaned over the table in order to snatch a kiss now that the road was clear. Surprise made its way to fondness fast, and Keith let his hand down from the air and onto the back of Shiro’s head. Fingers stroking the edges of his jawline.

For a moment he was still worried about everyone around them, people were probably watching. Keith usually didn’t really mind for public displays of affection. As a singer, he saw more than enough couples being all lovey dovey with each other in front of him. He liked those, they were easy money. Easy to spot and all you had to do was play some generally romantic song and bam, some change in your pocket.   
So yeah, he didn’t have a problem with them, he just never really thought he’d be like them. But there he was sitting in a café and kissing another man like no one else was around.   
Funny how things turn out.

Shiro pulled back after a short moment, and Keith couldn’t help the awkward chuckle when people started reappearing behind Shiro in his field of vision.   
“Was it too much?” Shiro’s face seemed just the tiny bit of apologetic.   
“No… it’s just…” Keith shook his head. “You really are awfully cheesy, aren’t you?”

The taller man gave the question some thought in his head before answering. “Maybe a little, but is that really a bad thing?”   
“Nah.” Keith shrugged. “It’s actually kind of predictable that you’d be the cheesy one.”   
“Excuse me?” One eyebrow cocked up on Shiro’s face. “You’re the one who took me to a statue from a romantic comedy from the 50’s to ask if he could kiss me. You don’t get to talk. I still didn’t get cheesier than that.”

_‘Still’.  
_ Keith liked that. He liked thinking they have things to look forward to together.   
The singer tilted his head to the side, a daring smile on his lips. “I didn’t think you’d know that movie.”   
“ _Roman Holiday_? I didn’t.” Shiro shook his head. He signaled the waiter for the bill before he continued. “I just did my research. It was a nice movie.”  
Shiro paid for both of them, and then they got up. The left the small café as the skies were almost a deep shade of dark blue, illuminated by the street lights and many stores around them.

“So you like old movies?” Keith wondered after they were already walking.   
“I like Casablanca.” Shiro offered, and Keith couldn’t help but laugh.   
“ _Everyone_ likes Casablanca. That doesn’t count.”   
“It’s a wonderful life?”   
“ _Please.”_   
“Oh sorry, sir” Shiro said in a manner that made it clear he was joking. “I didn’t expect you to be an old movies enthusiast.”

Keith shrugged. “We didn’t really have money for new movies when I was younger, so we watched a lot of old ones. I got used to it. It’s nice. Old movies are so quiet and slow, and everyone talk so nicely. It’s really different from my actual life, so… I like it.”   
“I have to admit it’s surprising.” Shiro casually wrapped his arm around Keith’s and gently directed him into a street to their right. “I would have never guess you like something like that.”

“I’m a man of surprises.” Keith grinned before adding, “What kind of movies do you like?”   
“Whatever’s nice, I guess?” Shiro used his free hand to scratch the back of his head. “I don’t have enough free time to be picky, so I just watch whatever I get if I have the time. I do kind of like James Bond though.”  
Keith hummed. “… Yeah, I can see you liking spy movies.”   
“You say it like it’s a bad thing.”  
“Not really. I mean, they’re cool. But I like space movies better”.  
He could see Shiro’s eyes sliding down to look at his alien t-shirt. “ _That_ I could guess.”  
“Oh come on! It’s a nice shirt!” Keith furrowed his eyebrows in protest.

“I didn’t say it isn’t! Actually, I like it” Shiro laughed. “I get it, the best t-shirt I have is a NASA one.”   
“Really?”   
Keith’s voice probably sounded doubtful, because Shiro nodded and added. “I swear!”

Then he stopped walking, and made sure Keith stopped with him. He pointed at the giant glass door, decorated by a shiny border. “That’s my hotel.”  
Keith examined to tall doors, and the entry room behind them, where a desk lady was already prepared to greet them good evening. It looked expensive and every type of luxurious you could think of. Stone walls and decorated carpets and-   
“Oh, I guess we should make it official.” Shiro muttered quietly, almost just to himself, but it was enough to snap the shorter man back from his thoughts. Shiro then leaned closer, stopping just above Keith’s ear. “Want to spend the night with me?”

Keith didn’t expect the shiver that passed from his ears and down his spine, but it was there nonetheless. He took a long breath and leaned his shoulder against the other.   
“I thought you’d never ask.”

They waved back to the woman as they passed the desk, barely stopping to answer to her confused expression. Then they got to a door on the second floor, and Shiro had to search through his pockets for a moment before finding the key back in the first pocket he checked.   
“Are you nervous?” Keith’s voice came out in an amused manner as Shiro shoved the key in and opened the door.   
“Maybe a little,” the taller man smiled as he walked inside, and Keith walked in after him. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a date stay for the night.”

“Wow, that’s not a room that’s a _house_.”  
He was pretty sure this was as big as his home. There was a huge living room, with a large table filled with papers and blueprints. Then there was a huge kitchen too, and a corridor leading to what was probably a bedroom and a bathroom.   
“I guess it’s pretty fancy.” Shiro shrugged, closing the door after them. “Want something to drink?”   


“We were just in a café” Keith raised his eyebrows in amusement “It’s nice of you being a gentleman and all, but your face really give away what you actually want.”   
“It does?” Shiro had enough decency to look embarrassed.   
“Yeah.”  
“Well,” the tourist put one hand around his waist and pulled him close enough so that Keith could feel his breath, his voice just a tad raspier than usual as he added. “I didn’t mean to be obvious, but yesterday did leave things to be desired.”   
“I’m not stopping you today, so...” He said back softly, teeth pressing against his lower lip for just another moment before he stretched up and closed the distance between them.

Shiro didn’t wait long before placing his free hand on the back of Keith’s head. He leaned down, taking charge of the kiss. The taller man was gently nibbling at Keith’s lips, asking for an entrance, and the singer granted it. A quiet moan escaped his throat when Shiro pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. That only seemed to make Shiro more eager, as he pulled Keith even closer.

Before he knew it, he was already out of breath, and Shiro pulled away just enough for him to speak.   
“I’m going to lift you up, is that okay?” he asked, fingers playing with the some messy locks of Keith’s hair.   
“If you can.” The singer hummed under his own breath. He put his hands around Shiro’s shoulders as the other moved his own arms down. Keith’s body tensed when Shiro’s hands slowed down and caressed his ass. And just like that Shiro grabbed him and lifted him up, placing his arms just below his thighs.   
“Looks like I can.” Shiro had a tiny grin on his face as he spoke. “You’re not even all that heavy.”   
“Oh sorry, I’ll work in that.”

Shiro laughed, planting another kiss on Keith’s lips before he started walking towards the bedroom. For a moment the singer noted to himself that the bed was huge, but then Shiro pressed his lips against his neck and really who cared about the room around them when he did that.   
Keith moaned again, fingers desperately trying to grasp the back of Shiro’s undercut. He buried his head in the tourist’s bangs, planting soft kisses on his hair and forehead.

Shiro sucked against his skin, creating a small mark before moving his mouth to the next spot. Slowly and carefully, he painted a train of little marks down Keith’s neck, making sure to get a noise out with every kiss. When he reached the base of Keith’s neck he stopped. As Shiro straightened his back, he had a soft grin on his lips.   
“I can’t really move freely when you’re in my arms like that.”  
“That bed looks pretty inviting” Keith purred, leaning his forehead against Shiro’s. He tightened his hold around him as the taller man gently laid him down with his back against the bed. Shiro put one knee next to him on the mattress before going down for another kiss.  

Keith let his hands slide down from Shiro’s shoulder, fingers finding their way to the buttons on his white shirt. He opened them one by one until Shiro’s chest was wide open. Then he gasped at the sight before shifting so that he could plant his lips onto Shiro’s skin.   
“Keith…” Shiro sighed, and the singer felt like he could go on for hours, making sure to kiss every bit of skin on that insanely well built chest. But then Shiro moved up, adjusting so he could sit between the singer’s legs. He discarded his shirt completely in a clumsy, almost too rash of a movement, and then slipped one hand under Keith’s own tee, fingers gently pressing against his abdomen in a way that was completely the opposite to how he took care of his own clothes. Like he’s holding something fragile.

“Can I take it off?”   
Keith couldn’t help but chuckle. “Are you really asking this right now?”   
“Just making sure.” Shiro smiled back, slowly pulling the shirt off before turning his hands to Keith’s pants. He pulled them slowly, one leg after the other, letting them fall onto the floor after he did so. Then he let his eyes wander up and down, examining the body under him before speaking.

“You’re really beautiful, you know that?”   
“Shut up,” Keith mumbled, shaking his head to hide the gentle pink tint rising to his cheeks.   
“Hmm?” Shiro’s smile grew wider. He slid his hand under one of Keith’s legs, lifting it near his face before leaning in to kiss it. He pressed his lips firmly for a moment before moving on to a different spot.   
“W-what are you doing?” Keith rose to his elbows, but Shiro sent his free hand to stop him from sitting up.   
“I said I’m going to take care of your legs.”

  
“Oh.” That was most probably the silliest replay he could have had, but he wasn’t really sure how to react. He was probably visibly dumbfounded, since Shiro spoke again.   
“Just… lay back and relax.”   
In his mind, the singer commented on how the last thing he could do right now is to relax. With Shiro in front of him, touching him like that. His blood was already pulsing through his veins, and Shiro seemed like he was going to take his sweet time. He chewed in his bottom lip before nodding and lying back down. Shiro seemed satisfied, going back to suck against the skin on Keith’s leg.

He really wasn’t in a hurry, leaving wet lines all over Keith’s legs as he went up. By the time Shiro got to the higher part of his inner thigh, the singer was already quietly huffing at every new touch. He wouldn’t believe it himself, but his body was already aching just from that.   
“Shiro…”  
The tourist turned his face up to look back at him. “Ah, sorry… Am I being too slow?”   
“ _Painfully_ slow.”

  
The look on Shiro’s face turned apologetic for a moment, but Keith could see something else below that when he spoke. “Well then, I’ll move on.” With a swift movement, he yanked Keith’s underpants down, revealing his erection. He shifted in his place, and before Keith could realize what he’s doing, Shiro already had two hands on his thighs, lifting them up and finding his place between them.   
“S-Shiro- What are y-. “ He started calling, only to stop and let out a loud groan when Shiro pressed his lips against his entrance.

_Fuck._  
He gasped as Shiro pressed his tongue against him, drawing one small circle after the other. He did so for a long minute that felt like forever before finally poking his tongue inside him, sending a strong shiver through Keith's back as he did so.   
“Fuck,” he huffed, this time out loud. “Shiro.”

That only seemed to make the other more determined. Shiro pulled out, giving another kiss before going in again, deeper this time. He could feel Shiro’s tongue against his muscles and couldn’t help but slam his hand against the sheets, gasping and moaning with every slight movement the other made. Shiro either didn’t notice him going crazy, or he just didn’t mind. He kept going, pushing himself as deep as he could and licking against the singer’s inner walls.  
He was too much. And Keith was already expecting a lot.   
  
And then Shiro pulled out and moved his face away, and Keith couldn’t help but whine at the sudden coldness between his legs.   
“W…where did you learn how do to that?” he asked as Shiro opened the belt on his own pants and slid his pants and underwear down in one go. He winked at Keith when he climbed back to the top part of the bed, leaning for a quick kiss before speaking, voice hoarse.   
“Nowhere special, really.”

Shiro reached his hand up to the small drawer near the bed. It took him a moment to find what he was looking for, probably since he didn’t even bother moving his eyes away from Keith’s face. Finally, he managed to grab the small bottle of lube and a condom. He moved so slowly, every movement stretching the muscles on his body, and Keith couldn’t help but let out a quiet growl and pull him down for another kiss.   
“Hurry up.” He couldn’t believe how needy his voice sounded as it came out of his mouth, but Shiro didn’t seem to care.   
“I will.” He nodded, brushing his lips against Keith’s hair before taking back his place between the singer’s legs.

Keith watched as the other spilled at least third of the bottle on his fingers. He had to fight himself not to urge the other again. Instead, He moved his legs up, rubbing his thighs against the other. This made a groan escape Shiro’s lips. Come to think of it, he looked just as eager as Keith.   
The tourist moved his hand, pressing one finger against Keith’s entrance, eliciting a moan as he did so.   
“Are you r-?”  
“Yes.”   
He might’ve answered too fast. It didn’t seem to matter, Shiro just ignored that too, and instead he slipped one finger inside, slowly.   
“Ahh!” Keith could feel his body shaking once again. He closed his eyes as Shiro moved his finger out and in again. The taller man did this a few times before slipping in another finger, and then did the same again until he felt safe slipping a third one. He kept going, stopping only when Keith cried out loudly, the scream turning into a moan that lingered on his lips _because that’s it, that’s the spot_.

Before he could come to his senses, he had to let out a soft whine because Shiro already took his fingers out and he felt empty. He opened his eyes just in time to see Shiro prepping himself. The taller man noticed his look and glance back at him.   
“I can tell you’re a singer.” He smiled, dropping the bottle to the floor before placing one hand against Keith’s abdomen. “You sound really good.”   
“I… never thought you’d be- uh- lewd.” Keith could barely find the presence of mind to speak, it was a miracle he managed to complete a sentence.

Instead of answering, Shiro placed his dick against him. He went in to the sound of Keith’s groans, and then stopped, allowing the singer to adjust around him.   
“Come here…” Keith wasn’t even sure how he can _still_ be coherent, but he grabbed Shiro’s hand and pulled him to lie on top of him, moans escaping both of their mouths from the sudden movement. Once Shiro was close, he wrapped both his arms and legs around him. After a long, shaky breath, Keith nodded.   
“I’m okay.”

Shiro just huffed as he started moving. He placed one hand between them to grab’s Keith dick, stroking it to the rhythm of his own movements.   
Keith couldn’t help but let out noises with every movement, becoming louder and louder the deeper and faster Shiro went. And Shiro listened to him, adjusting himself slightly every time to get a louder groan out of the singer. Soon enough the room was nothing but sweat and friction and both of their strained voices, riling each other up.

"Sh-, y-!" He could barely make out the words, giving up on the rest in favor of groans. Keith found Shiro's lips and pressed his mouth against them, drowning out a loud moan.

His whole body was trembling, he knew he couldn't last much longer. Shiro rubbed a thumb against the head of his cock, and the singer gasped. Soon enough the room disappeared completely. There was nothing in front of his eyes but flashing white. With a loud cry he arched his back up, grinding his chest against Shiro as he came onto the other man's hand.

Through the bells ringing in his ears he could hear Shiro gasping. "Damn, you're something."

And somehow, it made him embarrassed even now when they were like that, as intimate as you can get. He tightened his legs around Shiro, placing kisses on his neck and jawline with no particular order. After a few more minutes, he could feel the tourist's movements becoming ecstatic, almost jumbled. Keith pressed himself hard lower against the other, a satisfied smirk on his face when Shiro growled. The other buried his face in Keith's neck, riding out his orgasm with quick pounds as he came inside the singer.

 

Once Shiro's body relaxed, Keith allowed his legs fall back to the bed. His voice came out ragged and tired, but cheerful as he spoke.  
"I think they only hurt more right now.”  
"Really? Then I did an awful job."  
“No way.”  
Shiro placed his hands on the bed in order to lift himself up. He pulled out from Keith, a small yanking sound making him furrow his brows.

"I guess we're pretty disgusting right now."  
"I'm not getting up from this bed right now." Somehow, Keith found in himself the strength to laugh. "You can go and take a shower if you want to. I’m sorry I’m sticky"  
Shiro shrugged. He pulled the covers with him and laid next to the other.    
"Nah, I'll stay here with you. Well clean it up in the morning.”  
“Oh shit.” Keith mumbled and closed his eyes. “You have to tip the cleaner extra tomorrow. Poor thing.”

The singer shifted so he could lie against Shiro's back. They really were sweaty and sticky, but he didn't care for now, and he was happy.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at us, we're explicit now.  
> Congrats bois.


	7. Of Mornings After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of people, lots of talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so long to post! Sorry, college work is killing me slowly. Hopefully the next chapter will be up faster.

_“Quiet, you’ll wake them up.”_  
“I really don’t think you should just go in there, that’s such a bad idea.”   
“It’s okay princess. They’re under the blanket.”  
“Okay then… Aw, so cute.”  
“Yeah, yeah. Now shut up, you’re waking them up.”

Shiro thought he was hearing voices. For a few moments, he was sure he was just dreaming. But then he opened his eyes to the sight of Katie holding her phone above him, and Allura towering behind her. It took him another moment to realize what they were doing.   
“Katie what the f-!”  
“Uh ah!” she stepped backwards and out of Shiro’s reach. He was ready to get up after her when he realized Keith was leaning his head on his shoulder.   
“You’re safe for now.” He whispered in what he hoped was a serious and slightly threatening tone. “Now explain what’s going on.”

“Matt didn’t believe you actually found yourself a boyfriend.” A cheeky smile rose to Katie’s lips. “So I promised to send him a picture.”   
“And you couldn’t wait for us to wake up?” he raised his eyebrows.   
“I like the adventure.” She shrugged. Of course.   
“I told her it was a bad idea.” Allura remarked, glancing at the phone before adding. “But it’s a really sweet photo, I must say.”  
Shiro just stared at them for a long moment before deciding he wasn’t awake enough for this. He just woke up, and he preferred snuggling over conversation at the moment.

“Send it to me as well.” He ended up saying. “Now get out of here before I change my mind.”   
He stared at them as they hurried out of the room and closed the door behind them. Then he turned his gaze to the person lying next to him. He let his eyes slowly go through Keith’s black hair with dark red streaks. Looked carefully over the way his eyelashes brushed against the top of his cheeks. When his eyes slipped lower, he could see the series of marks he left yesterday, and Shiro had to swallow before leaning to press his lips against the singer’s forehead.

“Hey… wake up.”  
Keith groaned in protest and slightly shifted in his place. Shiro let out a soft chuckle before kissing him again, this time on his lips. This seemed to do the trick, after another small movement Keith opened his eyes.   
“Good morning beautiful.”   
Keith stared at him for a long moment before burying his face against Shiro’s skin, but the tourist could see the red on his cheeks flashing right before he hid himself.   
“You’re already so embarrassing.” His muffled voice came out after a moment.

“I just say whatever I feel like saying.” Shiro couldn’t help but smile.   
“That’s _exactly_ the problem.”  
Shiro ruffled his hair before pulling himself up to a sitting position. “I’m gonna go take a shower.” He didn’t mind it yesterday since he was tired, but now he couldn’t ignore the fact that he _really_ needed to clean himself up. They both did. Especially if Allura and Katie are going to be lurking in the living room. 

The shower did help. Finally Shiro could focus. He realized quickly that he would rather stay in bed with the singer for another hour, maybe even two. Realizing this made him shoot the water all the way down to the coldest temperature.   
That will have to wait for now.

When he came out of the shower, Keith was already looking more awake. With a smile on his lips, Shiro handed him a clean towel.   
“There’s warm water, I’ll go and make coffee while you shower.” he suggested. _‘And make sure Katie and Allura calm down before you come out there’._  
“You’re running away awfully fast.” Keith mentioned, to which Shiro had to stop and scratch the back of his head. “We have intruders.” 

Keith stared at him for a long moment, examining him with this pair of violet eyes before finally he nodded and smiled back. The singer grabbed Shiro’s hand and used it to get up. After he stood up, Keith planted a soft kiss on his lips.   
“Thank you.” He smiled and took the towel away, disappearing in the bathroom before Shiro could say anything. Which might have been better, since Shiro would definitely grab him for a longer kiss if he was given the chance.

Now, to take care of the too merciless women he knew were waiting for him. Shiro let out a long sigh before dressing himself and walking out of the room and to the kitchen.   
As expected, Katie and Allura were waiting.   
“Can’t you let us spend the morning together?” He teased with a soft smile, walking past them straight to the counter to boil water for coffee.

“You spent the entirety of yesterday together alone.” Allura proclaimed in a tone that made it clear you couldn’t argue with her. “We want to spend quality time with your boyfriend.”   
Shiro shrugged, scratching the back of his head again. “I don’t know if he’s my boyfriend yet.”  
“Oh, come on.” Katie rolled her eyes in return. “Don’t act like you’re 14. We all know exactly what’s going on here.”  
Allura just nodded in agreement.

“I just don’t want to assume things for him.” Shiro explained. “Even though apparently _everyone else_ is doing it.”   
“Duly noted and also ignored.” Katie nodded, leaning back in her chair.   
Shiro let out a short laugh. “Okay, just don’t scare him again.”  
“Nah, I think he likes me.” She smirked.

The whistle of the water boiling saved him from the need to reply. Shiro took two large mugs out and poured hot water, coffee and milk in both of them.  
Katie’s phone beeped on the table behind him.   
“Oh.” She sounded satisfied. “Matt wants me to tell you he looks very cute.”  

“Who’s Matt?”   
Keith’s voice made Shiro jerk up in his place, what hellish timing.  He turned around to look at the singer, his eyebrows immediately rising in half surprise half amusement because he didn’t expect Keith to wear  
the grey shirt with blue, red and white logo that was definitely his.   
“You actually took my NASA shirt?”

“I had to see it for my own eyes.” Keith let out a small, soft laugh, and passed fingers through his black, wet hair. “And once I did, I thought it was pretty cool. So I took it. It’s my hostage now” After he explained, worry crept to his eyes and he examined Shiro and asked. “Is that okay?”  
Shiro had to admit to himself that if the two girls weren’t there, he probably would’ve said something ‘ _lewd_ ’ again. Would probably do something while he’s at it. Seeing the other wearing his favorite shirt was just... damn. He swallowed before speaking.   
“Yeah, it’s fine.”   
  
From the corner of his eyes he could see Allura snickering at him.   
“So… Matt?” Keith asked again.     
“My brother. And Shiro’s best friend.” Katie explained.   
“I hope he’ll like me then.” Keith sat down near the table, and Shiro placed a coffee mug in front of him before he sat next to the singer.   
“Oh I’m sure he would.” Katie smirked.

“How is Matt doing?” Shiro tilted his head at her. He raised the mug near his face, inhaling a long breath filled with the smell of coffee. Coffee, Keith wearing his shirt, his friends around him… This was a pretty nice morning.   
“He’s fine. Now that we actually got the job things calmed down back in the company so he has some time to rest. No more high ranks pressing on him for progress.”  
“That’s great.” Shiro nodded. “I’m glad we could be of help.”

Keith perked up in his place all of a sudden.   
“Wait, shouldn’t you guys celebrate? You got the job.”  
“Well,” Allura’s eyebrows shot just the slightest bit up and her mouth twisted into this sly smile and Shiro just knew she was about to say something that will embarrass him. “It seems like Shiro already celebrated pretty nicely yesterday.”

_Yes, there it was._  
Shiro barely stopped a cough, he noticed Keith’s face becoming just a little bit red.   
“Well, I mean-” The singer started, voice almost shy for a moment. “-he _did_ ”.  
Now it was Shiro’s turn to be red.   
“Can we please change the subject?”  
“Why? I’m enjoying this” Allura’s smile widened, and Katie laughed.

“Anyway.” After taking a long sip of his drink, Keith talked again. “What I wanted to say was, my friend cooks at a pretty nice restaurant. It’s a really good place. So we can go there if you want.”  
“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Shiro nodded, surprised from that suggestion. From what he could understand so far, Keith wasn’t really keen on inviting new people to personal places in his life. Heck, he only got his address because it was given to him by Keith’s roommate.

“You think so?” Keith seemed to be happy about his agreement, and Shiro couldn’t help but smile and nod.   
“I do. Beside, Lance really wants to meet Allura.”  
“Me?” Allura wondered. “Why would he even know me?”   
“You did bump into my picture.” Shiro mentioned in return.  
Allura nodded, suddenly remembering the picture they took together. “Ah, you’re right.” She turned to Keith afterwards. “How about tonight than?”

“I’ll ask Hunk to save us a table, sure.” Keith had an embarrassed but satisfied smile on his face, which he quickly hid behind the coffee mug.   
They spent the rest of the time talking about idle things like the weather outside or the places Shiro and Keith visited the day before. When all of the cups were empty, Allura stood up.

“Sorry to cut your date short, but we do have some work to do before the evening.” She explained.   
“Oh, yeah. I guess that’s logical.” Keith nodded and stood up after her. “Then I’ll get going.”   
Shiro quickly got up himself, resting his arm on the singer’s back.   
“I’ll see you out.” He shot a glare at Katie before she could mention that the _door was right there_. From the disappointment in her eyes he could see he was right. She was about to say something like that.

It wasn’t a big distance, but it was enough of him to feel like they have some privacy.   
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you trying to walk away with my shirt.” He smirked.   
“I did?” The fake look of surprised of Keith’s face couldn’t fool anyone. “Gosh, I swear I completely forgot I have it on me.”    
Shiro chuckled lightly, and leaned down to sneak a kiss against Keith’s lips. “I want it back eventually.”   
“I’ll keep it close until then.” Keith bit his lower lip after the kiss. He shot a last look at Shiro before disappearing outside the door. And Shiro couldn’t help but scratch the beck of his neck and smile like an idiot for a long moment before he got back to the kitchen.

 

\--

 

The rest of the day was tiring and filled with work. They had many things to adjust and talk about before construction begins. The company wanted to start building as soon as possible, and since Shiro wasn't there to work yesterday, today was even busier.  
He liked designing things, and he liked seeing them taking shape. But this middle stage was mostly business, and mostly a drag.  
So when Allura finally slammed her hand on the table and got up to say she's going to take a shower and dress for the evening, Shiro sighed a breath of relief. The evening couldn't have come faster.

Keith already sent the address earlier. It took them an hour to get ready before they headed out to the market area. The restaurant was hidden between two tiny streets, a lot of talking and laughing coming out of it- mostly in Italian.   
Keith was waiting at the entrance, and Shiro could also recognize Lance. He assumed the other man was Hunk. The three of them were talking, and when they got closer he could hear Keith saying "I'm serious, don't fuck it up."

Shiro couldn't help but think this was cute.  
"Don't worry" he said with a smile on his face, placing his hand on Keith's shoulder. "They'll have to try _really_ hard to do that."  
"Ah, you're here" Keith's worried frown turned quickly into a small grin as he turned to look at Shiro. "How was work?"  
"It was fine" the taller man shrugged and turned to look at the other two. He let out a "Hey again" towards Lance before reaching out to shake Hunk's hand.  
"Nice to meet you, Hunk right?"

"Yes." The expression on the man's face was warm and inviting, and Shiro could understand why Keith talked about him with fondness. "Nice to finally meet you too."

"There she is!" Lance spoke even before Hunk finished, taking a quick step towards Allura with a large smile on his face and sparkles in his eyes.  
"You're even more beautiful in person, I'm swooned."  
"You're also awfully close." Allura was kind enough to push him back _gently._

Katie let out a short laugh before speaking. “Don’t give up boy, she’s a hard to get.” She really was, and if he was honest, Shiro kind of enjoyed watching her reject countless attempts from different guys. She usually wasn’t gentle with shutting them off, and often it was pretty amusing. But he will never admit that out loud.   
“It’s okay.” Lances smile was wide. “I can’t take no for an answer.”   
“Well, he’s right about that.” Keith shrugged. “Should we go in?”

The place inside was nice, maybe even the nicest restaurant they visited yet. While not the fanciest, it was well designed and still welcoming- and filled with people. They all followed Hunk as he led them to a table in the back, near the kitchen door.  
"Actually, it's the best seat in this place" he explained with a kind smile on his face. "We usually save it for friends of the chef."

"You work here?" Allura asked as they sat down.  
"Yes. I mean, I intern here I guess?" Hunk chuckled with soft embarrassment.   
“Mm?” Katie perked in her sit to look at him. “So why here of all places?”   
“Well.” Hunk shrugged, the smile on his face wide and passionate. "I think Italy is the best place to study about food, so I came over here to learn and get experience. Once I’m done, I’m gonna get back home and open my own restaurant.”

“I can appreciate people who go so far to follow their passion.” Allura turned her eyes up from the menu to grin at Hunk. “Good luck.”  
“I’m sure he can do it.” Keith nodded, and Lance added quickly, “Yeah, you have to see him cook. He saves us from drowning in junk food.”  
“Ah... Come on guys.” Hunk shrugged once again, his shoulders went so high up they almost touched his cheeks. The young man seemed obviously embarrassed with all the attention he got. “I’m just doing what I have to do.”

“And what about you?” Shiro turned to look at Lance, wondering. “How did you get here?”  
“Oh, that’s easy!” Lance cheered. He smirked widely before he continued. “My mom was all _‘Lance you are already 20 you can’t just stay and home and do nothing’_. So I came all the way over here to do nothing at my friend’s house! Brilliant I know.”  
“If you’re trying to impress me, you’re not doing very well” Allura eyebrows were raised up in confusion, already a little bit judging.   
Lance laughed, unfazed as he continued. “Nah, I just… Hadn’t really decided what I want to do with my life, you know? I’m still trying to figure myself out.”   
“I can get behind that.” Katie nodded and Lance, encouraged by getting an agreement, continued.   
“I like working at the bar though, working with people is nice.”

After a moment of calm, he proclaimed. “Besides- why am I being judged?! Keith is doing less than me in life!”   
“Hey!” Keith turned to look at him with an aggravated look. “I’ll get there-“  
“Well you’ve always been slow.”   
Hunk sighed. “I’m sorry, it’s not always like this.” After a moment, he pouted and glanced sideways. “No wait, actually they’re like that a lot.”   
Shiro let out a short laugh. “I could’ve figure it out.”

They all ended up ordering things Hunk recommended on (he did work there after all). And Hunk even went to the kitchen to talk to the people inside, resulting in a few extra plates arriving their way.   
“Ah! It’s delicious!” Allura seemed surprised after the first bite, and after everyone agreed Hunk seemed proud- even if he didn’t actually make the food himself.   
Lance was the one who offered getting drunk, and Katie was the one that rejected the idea because they had a lot of work tomorrow. They ended up agreeing on sharing a bottle of wine between everyone. Drinking while eating did seemed to break the ice, and the conversation flowed nicely from there on.

Quickly enough Keith and Katie found out the mutual love they shared to sci-fi movies, and stirred away to talk about aliens or… something. Keith always played it cool around him, or at least tried; suddenly seeing him like that felt nice, natural even.

 

“Do you really know each other for only a year?”  Shiro wondered.   
“Well Lance and I have been friends since high school. But we only know Keith since Lance brought him in one night a year ago.” Hunk nodded.   
“Yeah how did that work?” Katie tilted her head to one side, obviously wondering about the idea of letting a complete stranger into your house.    
“We dated.” Lance laughed. “For like, 2 dates.”  
“That did not work at all.” Keith grunted. “So I moved from his bed to the couch in the living room. And then to a bed of my own after a while.”

“We just kinda went with it, I guess.” Hunk nodded. “Couldn’t throw him back in the street.”   
“Wait just a second.” Shiro had to take a moment. “You two **dated**?” For some reason, he couldn’t imagine it working.   
Keith seemed like he was trying to avoid explanation before he gave up with a short sigh. “We got drunk, fucked, tried dating, it didn’t work, so we stopped. We work better as friends anyway-.” He stopped when he noticed Shiro was bluntly starring at him.   
“I’m sorry, shit! I didn’t mean to be so direct about it!” The words hurried out of his mouth. He seemed to suddenly realize how weird this all thing sounded, and embarrassment took over him.

“It’s fine…” Shiro mumbled quietly, a gentle smile on his face. He wasn’t sure how to react to all of this.   
But Allura was there and she didn’t wait a lot.   
“it’s okay, Shiro didn’t have many second dates either.”  
“I just didn’t find anyone that was worth- you know what, wait. We’re not having this conversation right now.” Luckily enough, he managed to stop himself before saying something stupid. Talking about how he usually deemed his partners not worth distracting him from his job and personal habits seemed like a sure way to kill Keith’s confidence in this relationship. A confidence that already seemed shaken from the start.   
“Uh-“ Keith hummed, offering an awkward smile.

“How about dessert?” Hunk was quick on his feet.   
“Sounds like a good idea.” Allura nodded.   
“I’ll go check it out.” He smiled before disappearing into the kitchen.   
He came back after a moment, telling them everything that was available, only to decide (encouraged by Lance) to get them a bit of everything. The cakes that arrived at their table did save the mood pretty nicely, and conversation went back to being loud. Thanks to Hunk, they got to pay a crazy low amount considering the amount of food they ordered. They weren’t kidding when they said Hunk was the reason they had good food, weren’t they?    
  
“Hey, you girls want a tour in the kitchen?” Hunk offered once everything was done for. Lance offered to join right away, and Shiro couldn’t help but feel cheated. How did they all decide on doing that without speaking? Were he and Keith this obvious?   
He didn’t have a lot of time to think about that, because the moment they were left alone, Keith turned two violet eyes up to him and asked.   
“So, you didn’t find anyone that was worth what?” Keith had a small smile on his lips when he spoke, but the look in his eyes was as easy to read as always. Shiro could tell deep inside he was concerned. He stared at the singer for a moment before speaking quietly.

“I don’t know. Someone that was worth wasting time on I guess? I’ve never really took the time to invest in a relationship. I had my work and my friends and that was steady enough.” He glanced at the other before adding. “It doesn’t mean I’m gonna decide you’re wasting my time!”   
Keith just stared back at him when he said, “I don’t think we’re really, um, steady. But isn’t it too early to speak about it?”   
“Yeah, it kinda is.” Shiro nodded.   
“Then let’s not worry about that now.” Keith stood up, reaching one hand to Shiro. The taller man took it and got up himself, following the singer to the street outside. It was already pretty late, and the night air was cold and somewhat calming.

There was nothing steady about them. That was true. They were just starting, and already on a timer. Will they stick through it? Will they break? He couldn’t tell, and at least for now it was a long enough before they even had to think about it.   
Shiro pulled Keith to a hug, leaving the singer’s hand only to wrap his arms around Keith’s back. They were fine for now.   
“So this wasn’t a complete disaster, right?” He hummed, and Keith laughed a bit.   
“I think they’re getting along nicely over there, no one seem to be dead yet.”  
“Yet?”   
“Lance might get himself killed by Allura.” Well, Shiro had to admit it did sound like a logical possibility.

“I like your roommates.” He smiled, “even if it is kind of bizarre that you dated one of them.”   
“Oh come on!” Keith protested. “Just forget about that. You have no competition at all, I swear.”    
“That’s reassuring.”   
Keith pushed himself up to kiss Shiro on his lips before speaking. “Well, I like your friends too.”  
“I’m glad you do.” Shiro nodded. He raised one hand to run in through Keith’s hair before adding, “anyway, I’m gonna have more work in the upcoming days.”  
“Just let me know whenever you wanna meet.” Keith nodded. “My work schedule is… flexible.”  
“I guess being your own boss has some perks.”  
Keith laughed, and Shiro couldn’t help but smile after hearing it. He liked that laugh. “Just call, okay?”   
“Okay”.

Before he could say anything else, he could hear rattles and steps and then Katie talked.   
“We leave you for five minutes and you’re already all over each other in everyone’s faces?”  
“Oh, sorry.” Shiro finally let go of the singer and turned to face the others.   
“It’s disgusting.” Lance called with a wide smirk on his face that made it clear he wasn’t serious.   
“It’s fine.” Allura rolled her eyes. “Are you two done?”   
Were they really done? He could guess what Allura was referring to. It wasn’t really a long conversation, and they didn’t really solve a lot, but he wasn’t sure what else to say at the moment. Not when both of them just kind of decided to wait and see how it goes.   
“Yeah, we’re ready.”   
“Good.” She seemed satisfied. “Then we’ll have to leave. We have to wake up early tomorrow.”

He turned to both Hunk and Lance, shaking their hands and adding “It was nice meeting you.”   
He got a similar replay from Hunk and Lance pointed finger guns at him and added “Sure my man.”

Then he turned to Keith, and even though he knew it will cause noise he still leaned down and planted a soft short kiss against the singer lips. In the background, he could hear the others rattling again, but he did not care what they said.   
“Good night.”   
“Night.” Keith answered, “Good luck at work tomorrow.”  
“I’ll call once I have a free moment.”

 

After they turned around the corner, and the other three were out of sight, Katie turned to him. “So?”   
“So… what?” Shiro looked back at her, confused. It took him another moment to understand what she meant. “I don’t know. It’s too early to talk about it.”    
Instead of giving him a straight answer, she just said. “You look very happy.”  
“But?”   
“But I don’t want you to get hurt.”

_Ah, of course._  
“It’s really not like you. All of this. So I’m just worried, that’s all.” She continued to explain.   
“I understand.” He smiled and rested a reassuring hand on the shorter girl shoulder. “Thank you.”

The rest of the walk to their hotel went without bringing that again. They were kind enough not to do so. But it did get Shiro to think. It really wasn’t like him, which was almost funny, and if he actually thought about it too long- a little bit scary as well.   
He wasn’t sure he had an answer, so for the second time this night, he decided to leave the hard decisions for another time.  

  


 

 


	8. Of Tired, Evening Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We can order food and watch a movie, something like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly this is basically just a smut chapter, nothing actually happens.   
> Welp.

During the week after the dinner, just like Shiro had said, they barely had time to see each other. Keith would do the effort of coming to wherever he could. But the architect only had time for one lunch over the week, and even that was a short lunch break. Other than that, they mostly kept it to text and conversations over the phone.  

It was already Friday afternoon when Keith, encouraged by his roommates, decided to call and check up on the other. He sat on his bed, idly playing with the edge of his shirt as he waited for the call to connect.   
_“Hey.”_ Came the soft voice from the other side, notably tired but still the familiar kind tone Shiro had when talking to him.   
“You sound half dead.” Keith didn’t bother to cover it up, and Shiro laughed a little bit on the other end.   
_“I guess I’m tired… It’s been a busy week.”_

“So are you too tired to meet?” Keith wondered. “Because I was about to offer a weekend date.” After thinking about it for a second he added. “Please tell me you don’t work over the weekend!”   
A short chuckle came from the other side. “ _I don’t work over the weekend, thank god.”_   
“So…?” The singer allowed himself to purr the word into the phone, urging a replay.   
“ _I would love a date. But god, I’m so tired…”_

He did sound exhausted. Keith took a moment to think about it before he offered. “How about a house date then? You can come over here, or I can come over there. We can order food and watch a movie, something like that.”   
“ _Actually, that sounds just perfect._ ” Shiro let out a short laugh. “ _You’ll have to come over here though, I am sitting on the couch and I’m not going to put my shoes back on today_.”   
This time it was Keith’s turn to laugh. He couldn’t help but thinking this seemed kind of uncharacteristic of Shiro, but he did think it was kind of charming.   
“Okay, I’ll be there in an hour, more or less.”

After hanging up the conversation, Keith shoved some clothes into a bag, dropped his toothbrush inside, and skipped out of the house. Even though it’s been only about half a week since the last time they met, he had to face the fact that he did miss Shiro.

He took a quick detour and stopped at a small pasta store that in his mind, made the best pasta that you can buy for 5 euros. (In fact, in his opinion, it was even better than many expensive ones as well). He grabbed two boxes, each with a different sauce, and two bottles of bear. Then, proud of himself for the idea of picking up good food beforehand, he turned straight to Shiro’s hotel.  

He could hear the footsteps coming towards the door, and was ready to march in the moment Shiro opened it. With a smile on his face, Keith lifted the bag in his hand to Shiro’s eye level and declared.   
“I brought dinner.”   
Shiro indeed looked tired, his longer bangs laid messy over his forehead, and the buttoned up that he wore was plucked out of his pants, and more open and slouchy than usual. Keith thought he looked just as handsome like this, as he did every other time when he was perfectly organized. Especially when he smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

“Nice, what is it?” the taller man asked, picking into the bag.   
“Pasta and bear.” Keith smiled back, walking towards the kitchen area of the room and placing everything on the table.   
“Sounds like a plan.” Shiro followed after him, taking out forks as Keith tried to understand how the microwave worked. He could feel Shiro leaning against him, reaching out to press the right buttons that made the thing work.   
“It’s not that hard.” The other smiled.   
“Why does it have so many buttons?” Keith rolled his eyes. “Do you even use all of them?”   
“No.” Shiro shrugged.   
“Then it’s just silly.” Keith determined. He waited for the microwave to finish before he took out both of the boxes. Then, he had to gently nudge Shiro away from his back, a short chuckle escaping his mouth. “You really are sleepy, aren’t you?”   
Shiro let out a quiet grunt at having to move himself from the comfortable spot against Keith back. “I wasn’t joking.” He said, and went to sit on one of the chairs.     

“Well,” Keith snorted, sitting in front of the other and placing the two boxes between them. “I hope you’re not too tired to eat, because this is good pasta.”   
Shiro just stared at him for a moment before taking a fork and digging into the box closer to him. “You know, we eat a lot.”   
“We do?” Keith wondered.   
“Yes, at least half of our dates included food in them, I think.”   
Keith thought about it before letting out a short laugh. “You’re right! Well, we are in Italy so, you know, do as the Romans do?”   
“I thought that was talking about romance.”   
Keith shook his head. “Definitely talking about food.”    
Shiro chuckled, shaking his head from side to side. “You’re lucky that it is, in fact, very good.”    

Shortly after they were already sitting on the couch in the living room space. Keith idly pressing the remote buttons to go up and down in a list filled with movies for hire. Only mildly distracted by Shiro leaning his body against him, placing his head on the singer’s shoulder. It took him a few minutes to realize Shiro wasn’t even paying attentions to the titles showing on the screen, choosing to instead focus on playing with the longer strands of Keith’s hair.

Then he saw something that made it really hard for him to keep a straight face. Barely holding a smirk down, he turned his eyes to Shiro and gestured towards the television.   
“I found the perfect movie.”   
Shiro moved his face back to the screen, and Keith watched as the look in his eyes shifted from interest to confusion. “…’Murder she baked’? That sounds like-.”  
“The most amazing movie in the world?” He could barely stop himself from laughing.   
“Yeah I guess.” Shiro’s eyebrows shot up, “I mean, I do want to know what’s a chocolate chip cookie mystery is.”  
“It **does** sound compelling.” Keith nodded. When Shiro answered quickly after, his voice was low and sharp.

  
“We’re not serious.”  
“We’re not serious.” Keith immediately repeated.   
“Good.” Shiro sighed in relief, “Because I really don’t want to watch this.”   
“Maybe if I get paid for that. A lot.” Finally, Keith allowed his face to break into a short laugh. “But seriously, what is that name?”

“How long was I dozed off?” Shiro wondered. “You had to go really low on the list to get to something like that.”   
“I’m on the very bottom.” Keith nodded, a smile still lingering on his face. “But I did see the new ‘Mission Impossible’ movie on the way down. It’s not Bond but it’s still a spy movie.”   
“You’d watch a spy movie for me?” Shiro looked genuinely touched. “Aw Keith.”   
Keith could feel his cheeks turn a slight shade of pink as he tore his look back to the TV and started the task of scrolling back up the list. “I never said I hated them you know, it’s not a big deal.”

“Hey, let me give you a compliment.” Shiro went back to leaning his head on Keith’s shoulder. “You’re choosing a movie for me even though I will probably fall asleep halfway through it.”   
Keith would shrug, but he didn’t want to make Shiro uncomfortable. Instead he just waved his free hand from side to side and said. “You’re the one paying for it. It’s in your rentals.”

 

\---

 

“Shiro…”   
A familiar voice invaded the darkness, and Shiro shifted slightly in his place.   
“Shiro come on, the movie is over.” This time, he could recognize Keith’s voice, and the blurriness faded away when he opened his eyes to the living room area of his hotel suite.   
“Oh, did I fall asleep?” He mumbled a question that didn’t really need an answer.   
“Not even 20 minutes in.” Keith nodded.

Shiro stretched in his place. He pulled himself upwards and placed his forehead against Keith’s face, his breath coming back in warm waves against the singer’s cheek as he said quietly. “Sorry about that.”  
“It’s fine.” Keith tilted his head to the side and leaned back against him. Shiro shifted again, moving his hands until he found Keith’s, gently fondling his fingers. It almost surprised him, how comfortable he felt in this one quiet moment.

After a long minute, he spoke. His voice was quiet, barely breaking the calm.   
“You smell nice.”   
“I smell like cheap soap and pasta, probably.” Keith laughed. Shiro stretched his neck slightly so that he could flutter a kiss in the other’s cheek.   
“You’re cute.”   
“You know,” Keith’s tone didn’t change, but Shiro was close enough to see his face was turning just the slightest shade of red. “You’re complementing me a lot.”   
“Feels like you need it.”  

A long pause. Quiet. For a moment Shiro wondered if he fucked up. What if he ruined it? What if he went too far and too personal way too fast? He tried to examine the singer’s face, but from this angle he didn’t see his eyes, and it was hard to decide what he was thinking. Then. Thankfully, Keith broke the silence.   
“Maybe we should go to bed. Aren’t you still tired?”   
Shiro laughed, he stopped playing with Keith’s fingers only so that he could grab his hand. “Actually, that was a really good power nap.”  He sat straight in his place, pulling the singer close and burying his face inside the long, dark hair. “What do you say, are you too tired?”  

“No, I’m not” Keith placed his free hand on Shiro’s knee, slowly stroking his way up. “What were you thinking about?”  
After that, he knew it was alright, the dangerous moment passed and he didn’t ruin anything. A smile climbed up to his lips as Shiro got up to his feet, pulling Keith up after him.    
“Nothing specific, really.” He shrugged, leading the other one to the bedroom. Before he knew it he was sitting on the bed, With Keith placing his knees on both sides on him and sitting down on his lap. Foreheads leaning against each other, Shiro moved his hands to gently caress the singer’s thighs.   

“I missed your face.”   
Keith smiled, violet eyes slightly shifting down when he did, and then he moved his head lower, placing his lips against Shiro’s jawline.   
“I missed _your_ face.” He hummed back, voice slightly muffled.   
Shiro smiled, moving one of his hands to Keith’s lower back, sliding his fingers under his shirt. “Well, my face is here now.”   
“I know” Keith mumbled, before pressing his lips down, fluttering one kiss after another all along Shiro’s jawline, all the way from his chin to his earlobe.

Shiro let his hand slowly climb up against the singer’s back, fingers trailing on the muscles gently. He moved back to pull Keith’s shirt off, leaning back in only to find his lips for another kiss. The taller man ran his tongue against Keith’s lips, shoving it in as soon as he got an opening, one hand pressing on the singer’s thigh and the other one gently messing his hair.   
When Keith moaned, Shiro pulled back, turning to suck on the base of his neck. He had to swallow a satisfied grin when Keith leaned closer into his lips.

Keith’s hand carelessly tugged at the fabric of Shiro’s shirt.   
“Let me-“ he started, another moan escaping his lips when he tried to talk.   
In response, Shiro just steadied his grip on the other, reluctant to move away so soon. He slide his tongue from one sport to another, creating little marks, searching for the areas that will make the singer shudder. When he finally backed off, Keith was red, his lips hung slightly open and his hair was a mess.

Shiro noted to himself how unfair it was, that only one look at the other like that was enough to rile him up. With a swift movement, he took his shirt off and threw it somewhere on the bed behind him.  The fabric didn’t even touched the sheets before Keith was there, wrapping his arms around Shiro.

He noticed it the first time, but it became even clearer for him now. In bed, Keith was eager, impatient even. It made it a challenge for Shiro, who liked taking everything slow, appreciating every moment.   
“You gotta wait a little longer.” He said softly. When Keith grunted in replay, he added “Do it for me.”   
That, along with his hand finding his way to Keith’s lower back, seemed to do the trick. The singers body relaxed, allowing Shiro to shift around and finds the other’s chest with his mouth. He started from the bones underneath Keith’s neck, slowly but surely making his way down, planting kisses without any particular order and enjoying the shivers it produced. He slowed down when he reached the middle of the other’s chest, making sure to look up and examine Keith’s face as he took one of his nipples into his mouth. Shiro couldn’t help but feel satisfaction when Keith gasped, surprise washing over his face when he looked down back at the tourist. They locked eyes for a moment, and then Shiro went back to focus on what’s in front of him, drawing tiny circles with his tongue. He sucked, and Keith drowned a moan hiding his face in Shiro’s bangs.

“Shiro.” Keith’s voice came out muffled.  
Shiro stopped just to hum “not yet.”  
“You know…” Keith huffed, “You’re… surprisingly bossy.”   
“Is it too much?” Shiro wondered, shifting his eyes back up to look at the other. “I’m sorry.”   
But Keith just smiled. “Don’t be sorry. Just… you know, hurry up a little.”   
“Okay. I will, promise.” Shiro smiled back. Moving slightly to the other side of the other’s chest, the one that didn’t get attention yet. “But you do have two nipples.”   
“An acceptable argument.” Keith’s voice was slightly amused and also, Shiro noted to himself, filled with want.

Shiro just hummed quietly before closing his lips, satisfied to get out another moan from the other. If it was up to him, he would take his sweet time, drawing out every single noise he could just doing that. But he did promise, so he let his hand stroll around until in found the button on Keith’s pants. He played with the button for a moment until he managed to open it, which wasn’t a small feat when he was more focused on the singer’s chest. Then, Shiro slide his hand under Keith’s thighs, slightly lifting him up so that the shorter man could slid his pants down.  
Once Keith was back to sitting on his lap, Shiro moved his hands from his back to his groin. He relished on the satisfied noise coming from Keith once Shiro grabbed his dick.

“Is this what you want?” He asked almost teasingly, even though he knew the answer. He didn’t wait for a replay before he started moving his fingers up and down, and Keith shuddered in his arms again, a groan escaping his lips.   
The singer ran his hands from Shiro’s shoulders down against his chest. He didn’t even bother with asking Shiro to take down his pants, and instead just opened the button and shoved his hand inside. This time, it was Shiro’s turn to growl back. Keith’s hand was warm, pressing against him in a way that made it very hard to keep it slow.

Shiro rolled his tongue inside his mouth as he leaned forward, catching Keith’s lips with his own. The tourist moaned into the kiss, moving his hand faster as he went along, muting the voices coming out of the other straight into his mouth.   
He kept on doing it for a short while until, without warning, Shiro leaned back, hitting the bed with his back and pulling Keith on top of him. Keith let out a surprised moan, placing one hand on the bed, probably so that he won’t fall straight onto Shiro.   
  
When Keith spoke, his voice was shaky, much closer to a huff than to actual words.   
“Where..?”   
He could barely finish the sentence, and he didn’t need to. Shiro pointed to the top drawer near the bed. Keith nodded, and then stretched his arm to take out a small bottle of lube and a shiny plastic package. Once Keith was back on top of him, Shiro placed on hand on his hip. But before he could turn around, the singer stopped him.   
“You said you were tired.” Keith huffed. “I can do most of the work.”  
Shiro had already said he wasn’t really all that tired after sleeping through the movie, but instead of mentioning it he just smirked. “How can I say no to that?”   
“Good.” Keith answered just a tad too quickly, blood rushing to his face. Shiro couldn’t help but think how cute that was. With a swift movement, he took the bottle out of the other’s hand, soaking his fingers with liquid. He watched Keith’s face with care as he lowered his hand slowly, gently hovering just above his skin. When his hand reached the other’s bottom, Shiro gently passed his fingers between the cheeks, pressing around the entrance.

Expectedly, Keith flinched, a soft moan escaping his lips.   
Shiro hummed, he grabbed Keith’s lips with a kiss before slipping one finger into him. He waited until he could feel Keith relaxing before starting to move his finger slowly.  
Keith broke away from the kiss, moving to bury his face in Shiro’s shoulder. He let out another quiet moan as he rocked his hips up, moving his body against Shiro.

“Fu-.“ Shiro huffed. Keith made it incredibly hard for him to be patient. He had to take a deep breath, remind himself that he doesn’t want to hurt the other. That made it easier for him to wait until he was sure Keith was okay before he slipped in a second finger. The singer pressed his lips against Shiro’s skin, muting a groan.

“Look at me.” Shiro hummed quietly as he moved his fingers inside the other in a scissoring motion. “I want to see your face.”   
When Keith huffed and lifted his face up, Shiro had to hold back a moan, Keith was a wonderful mess. Shiro leaned forward as much as he could, closing the distance for another kiss.  It didn’t take too long before Keith placed his hand on Shiro’s arm to stop him.   
“It’s okay, I’m ready.”

Shiro just nodded, and then pulled his fingers out to the sounds of Keith groaning. He watched as Keith shifted in his place, making sure he was comfortable. Unlike Shiro, the singer didn’t wait much before tearing the condom wrapper. He only sent out one eager smile out while he prepared the tourist. And before Shiro knew it, Keith was stroking his dick with his fingers, leading him in.

Shiro bit down his lower lip, barely keeping down a loud groan. Keith didn’t stop until Shiro was completely inside of him, and he could feel the younger man shivering above him.   
“Are you okay..?” He huffed, unsure of how he could still form a sentence so calmly. He lifted one of his hands and ran it through the singer’s hair.   
“Yeah” Keith mumbled in return. He leaned in for a short kiss before he started moving. Slowly at the beginning, but catching up a rhythm as he continued. Shiro couldn’t help but stare, moans coming out of his throat with every movement. He had to remind himself to send one hand down and grab Keith’s cock. Took him a moment before he could synchronize his hand with the singer’s movements.

“Shiro-.“ Keith’s voice was ragged, barely forming out of his lips before he was cut off by a loud groan. Shiro placed his other hand on the other’s hip, helping to balance him so he could move faster. He would say something back, but he was too busy to even think of words, distracted by everything that was Keith on top of him.

Keith moved to lean his head against Shiro’s shoulder, and Shiro used it to bury his own face in Keith’s hair.   
“Fuck, Keith…” he managed to mutter, barely audible. He tilted his thighs up, pushing the other down until he could feel Keith’s chest rubbing against his own. Slowly but surely, the heat became unbearable. Every moan and growl rang in Shiro’s ears, and he knew he was close.

“I’m…” He mouthed, and then stopped because light flashed behind his eyes end everything burst with bright colors. For a moment, his hands stopped moving, and Keith’s voice sounded both distant and close at the same time. Shiro bucked his legs, letting out a loud cry as he came.

When things came back to focus in front of his eyes, the first thing he saw was Keith.  Instinctively, he pulled him closer for a kiss. Keith whimpered against his lips, reminding Shiro without words to move his hand around him once. Shiro happily complied, he listened to the singer’s breath as it slowly became more and more ragged. He moved his hand faster as Keith lost rhythm. Not too long after, Keith cried out, body shaking. The singer grasped against Shiro, nails scratching his skin. Then he came into Shiro’s hand, riding out the rest of his orgasm for a long moment.

When he finished, Shiro moved his hand, wiping it against the edge of the bed.   
“Maybe I should tell you I’m tired more often.” He joked quietly, placing his clean hand on Keith’s hip in order to help him balance as the singer slowly slipped Shiro out of him and moved to lie on the bed.   
“Well, I don’t mind really,” Was the answer that came from Keith after his body hit the mattress. But when Shiro looked, he could tell by the look in his eyes that Keith was slightly embarrassed.   
“Good.” Shiro smiled, leaning forward to place a kiss against Keith’s forehead. “Are you tired?”  
Keith sighed. “Obviously. I didn’t sleep through the movie.”

“Point taken.” Shiro nodded, a calm smile on his lips. He wouldn’t mind going to sleep right now, with the singer’s warmth still lingering on his body. “Good night?”   
Keith shifted so that he could lay his head against Shiro’s chest before mumbling back.   
“Good night.”        


	9. Of Weekend Adventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why me?” Keith asked before opening his eyes, before he had the chance to lose his will to ask so. “Why choose me? Why go for the loser street singer in a foreign country?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a somewhat shot chapter, but I didn't want to add on to it just for length.
> 
> Sorry it took so long. Holidays has been busy. Hope you have a great new year! <3

Keith woke up to an empty bed, and the smell of coffee and breakfast slowly making its way into the room. The singer turned around in the bed and moved his hand through the sheets., still listening to the quiet noises of shuffling and movement coming from the Kitchen.  
 _He could get used to this. It would even be a pretty easy thing to do. He could get used to the noises of Shiro waking up early, and the remnants of his smell he left behind in bed.  
_ After a few minutes, Keith dragged himself out of the bed and made his way to the kitchen

 

"Good morning" he hummed when he saw the other, a soft smile rising to his lips. Shiro placed the mug he held down on the table and moved to wrap his arms around the shorter man.  
"Good morning." He answered back.  
"When did you wake up?" Keith nudged just a little bit, so that he could peak at the table. "You can cook?"  
Shiro chuckled. "I can cook basics. Nothing fancy. But I actually got down to the nearest cafe and bought these stuff" He shrugged. "And I always wake up early, I'm used to it."

 

"Ah, you did mentioned you don't sleep a lot." Keith nodded. He rose to his toes in order to sneak a small kiss on Shiro's lips before moving back. The tourist let him get out of his hold so that Keith could go a sit at the table. Shiro followed him, not before picking up a second mug for himself.  
"Can I stay today?" Keith asked, biting at his lower lip. The last thing he wanted was to get sent home early again. "Or do you have plans?"

 

Shiro looked back at him and smiled wide. "I'm free."  
Keith couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "Cool."  
Shiro laughed. "So is there anything you want to do?"  
"I don't know, didn't really think about it" Keith admitted. He was just happy to spend time with the other. If he had to be honest with himself, he didn’t expect to get this far.    
"Well, let me know if you have an idea." Shiro sipped from his cup before adding. "You're the local here."  
  


Keith took a long moment to think about it before speaking. "What about you?"  
"Me?" Shiro looked surprised, Keith shrugged in response.  
"Yeah." He stopped for a moment, drowning his embarrassment with a long sip of coffee. Even after he did so, he kept fondling the cup near his face, letting the warm air brush against his face. “I mean… ah”  
Shiro examined him for a long moment before speaking. “This isn’t really about sightseeing, is it?”  
“I just…” Keith shrugged before putting the glass back down on the table. “I was thinking that if I knew more about you I’d have a better idea on where to go to.”  
  


“And?”  
“And that made me realize I don’t really know a lot about you.” He wasn’t sure where the courage to be so blunt came to him. It might have been the early hour, or maybe there was something in the coffee. More probably, it was none of it. He just wanted to know more.  
“Oh.” Shiro’s look turned from wonder to surprise. He obviously didn’t expect that, and for a moment Keith worried he was taken aback.  
  


“You don’t have to say anything!” He said quickly, leaning just a little bit forward against the table. “I guess it’s just early morning ramblings. I- I don’t really have a good filter.”  
“Well,” Shiro was kind enough to stuff Keith’s blur of words. “If you want to know something, you can always ask.”  
Keith swallowed down a sigh and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll ask.” Thankfully, he still had enough coffee in his mug to avoid speaking for a few long minutes. So many questions ran through his mind, but he wasn’t sure which one to answer, he wasn’t even sure he wanted answers. Did he really need to hear how put together and well behaved and _perfect_ Shiro was?  

 

The tourist’s words shook him back into reality. “How about the sea?”  
“The sea?” Keith wondered, raising his eyes from the cup and back to the other’s face. Shiro smiled, just barely shrugging and scratching the back of his head.  
“Isn’t Rome kinda close to the beach?”  
Keith nodded. “A little more than an hour if you take a taxi.”  
“Then we should go!”

Well, that was actually a pretty nice idea, Keith moved forward, leaning his elbows on the table. “Yeah…” he allowed a soft smirk to creep it’s way up his face. “Let’s do that.”  
They finished the rest of the breakfast idly talking about this or that. After they finished, Shiro made sure to call a cab. It was too cold outside to actually think of going into the water, and they didn’t have any bathing suits anyway, so they gave up on towels. Still, after they went out to the street, Keith grabbed Shiro by his armed and pulled him into the nearest cafe. Getting some fresh bread and pastries for the day seemed like a pretty good idea.

 

The taxi stopped in front of the hotel just after they left the cafe.   
“You already told me the road takes an hour.” Shiro teased before sliding into the back sit, “so don’t try anything funny again.”   
“You know, It was really a one time thing. I don’t normally do that.” an apologetic smile rose to Keith’s lips as he went into the car next to Shiro. He made sure that the driver know where they’re going before leaning back in his chair, head resting against the tourist’s shoulder.     
“Getting ready for the long drive?” Shiro glanced down at him, a grin on his face.   
“Getting comfortable.” Keith answered quietly, holding his gaze on the other for a moment before moving it out to the window.

 

-

 

“Wait, wait, wait- what do you mean your name is actually _Takashi_ ?”   
“Well, it’s a Japanese thing. I’m used to Shiro anyway.”

The air near the ocean was cold, the kind of cold that pinches at the edge of your nose every time a new breath of wind flew by. Understandably, not many people were around, and even fewer were walking where both of them were- right on the concrete dock near the water.   
“Didn’t we already talk about it?” Shiro wondered, cold breath running out from his mouth as he spoke.   
“Well, maybe?” Keith shrugged, “But now it’s weird because I think about the fact I called you by your family name during sex.”

Shiro’s cheeks became just a tad redder, and not only because of the wind. “It does sound weird when you say it like that.”   
  
“Okay next question!” The taller man called out. “Quick, before it get’s too weird.”   
“Hmm…” Keith wondered. “Favorite comfort food?”   
“Mac'n'Cheese.” Shiro sair without thinking, and Keith couldn’t help but looking surprised. “Really?”   
“Yeah.” Shiro scratched at the back of his head. “It’s just good, you know.”   
Keith let out a short, rolling laugh, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his coat.     
  


After a moment of silence, Keith took in a deep breath.   
“Okay, I do have a question.”   
“Oh?” Shiro had a slightly confused look in his eyes when he looked back at the singer. He was already answering questions, so the sudden need for introduction made it seem serious all of a sudden.   
“You said If I want to know something about you, I need to ask.” Keith explained quietly. “So I have a question.”   
“Oh…” Shiro mumbled again, and for a moment Keith was sure he’s going to shut him down again. But the moment passed, and the tourist nodded. “Okay, ask.”

 

Keith took another long breath, closing his eyes for the fraction of the second he needed to muster up the courage.  
“Why me?” He asked before opening his eyes, before he had the chance to lose his will to ask so. “Why choose me? Why go for the loser street singer in a foreign country?”

An answer didn’t come. When Keith turned his eyes to look at the other, already ready to say it doesn’t _really_ matter, he had to stop. Because he could see Shiro was thinking. It was so blatantly visible on his face, that Keith could only stay quiet and wait for the other to process his thoughts.

  
“I guess I just…” Shiro started. “I was always the perfect boy. The promising one, with the great, steady future ahead of me. I grew up in a good house, got good grades, had a job waiting me right after college. I did all of it without really thinking. Just kinda did what was expected from me without ever really… straying from that path. I just didn’t want to disappoint anyone, and I didn’t really.”   
He stopped only to draw out a sigh from his lips. “Everything in my life is so… settled already. Like. it’s all decided. So I guess when Katie gave me your name and an address I just thought- ‘ _why not_.’ This could be my chance to do something that’s… different. To have an adventure, I guess.”    
  


“So that’s what I am.” Keith huffed quietly, bobbing his head a little bit to one side, his eyes darting towards the water. “An adventure.”  
A replay might have been already on it's way, but Keith didn't wait for it before calling out.  
"I can't swim so you better catch me!"

 

\---

 

Shiro could only stare as the small, vibrant figure of Keith as it left its place next to him and ran towards the water line, jumping into the ocean and disappearing before he could protest.  
Only then he realized what he just heard. _'You better catch me!'_ But more important:  
 _'I can't swim'_  
  


What the fuck, what the fuck. what the actual fuck. Shiro didn't even think for another second before sprinting towards the water. Dropping his belongings on the ground before jumping.  
" **Keith**!" He called as loud as he could before his body hit the water with a splash. It was cold, so cold it was almost shocking. Before the splash calmed down and he could regain his vision, he felt a hand brushing against his cheek. He grabbed into both sides of the singer’s body, eyes wide when he looked at him.

   
"Are you insane?! You could have died!"  
Keith brushed his other hand through Shiro's bangs. "It's okay, I can actually swim. I just lied to get you to follow me."

   
Shiro didn't think it was possible for the expression on his face to become more shocked than it already was, but it happened. He stared at Keith completely in awe, not able to find his words for a whole minute.  
"What- Why would you do that?!"

 Keith had to shout to get his voice heard over the loud noises of the waves. Still, Shiro could barely hear him when he said. "I don't know! For the adventure I guess."  
For the first time in his life, Shiro was speechless for three consecutive sentences. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Keith wasn't insane, he was just-

   
"Idiot!" Shiro called out loud, tightening his grip on the singer's hips. Maybe that was too loud, too strong, but he was rightfully shaken. "You didn't even let me finish! I meant to say that maybe that's how it's started, but I ended up liking being around you. I enjoy talking to you, I enjoy sleeping with you, I even kind of enjoy when all of a sudden you do something completely fucking stupid like there's no logic in your head **at all**!"

 He also had to admit to himself, that he enjoyed watching the expression on Keith's face as it slowly changed into a smile. He enjoyed seeing this smile getting wider as he spoke. He enjoyed looking at him, hair dripping wet and nose red from the cold and smiling and god, he was beautiful.

  
"I still would've jumped." Keith called to him, this time with a cheerful, much softer tone.  
"Why?" Shiro wondered.  
"Because you'd come and save me."

  
Keith didn't wait for an answer before pulling Shiro into a kiss. It was cold and wet and by all means supposed to be horrible, but Keith smiled against his lips and his body was shaking in the tourist hands and even though it was freezing, it was great. Maybe it was the adrenaline still rushing through his veins.

   
"It's flawed logic." Shiro called after the kiss ended.  
"Maybe" Keith nodded.  
"It's stupid!"  
"Probably."  
"You're just going to keep agreeing with me?"  
"Yes!" Keith nodded, letting a short laugh escape his mouth.  
  


Shiro sighed, but it was an amused sigh, leaving a grin lingering on his face.  
"It's a great story though." Keith called. Shiro shook his head, leaning in to steal another cold and shaky kiss. When he moved back, he noticed Keith's lips were starting to turn blue.  
“Maybe we should go out of the water.” he suggested.   
Keith agreed almost instantly. “Yeah, it’s way too cold.”

It was even colder when they got out, with the wind beating hard against their bodies.Shiro pulled Keith’s hair back and away from his face, but both of them were drenched so there was really not a lot of use to this. This was a terrible idea, they were both shaking, and will probably be sick tomorrow. But Keith was laughing when he looked up at the taller man and Shiro couldn’t help but smile back.  
“There’s a cafe over there.” Keith pointed out to what seemed to be the nearest place where they could dry up a little and order something warm to drink. It might not be the best, but it was the closest, and at that time it was all they needed. They picked up their belongings from the ground before going into the place.

 

The waitress gave them a weird look when they walked in, still shaking with both cold and occasional laughter, but she gave them a seat and let them order two of the biggest cups of coffee the place had to offer.   
Shiro pulled out half of the napkins from the holder, gently drying off the singers face. He could say, once again, how stupid that was, but instead he chose to say nothing.

“You think we can sit here until we dry?” Keith wondered after the waitress left the two cups on their table and left.   
“We’ll probably need to order much more than just coffee for that.” Shiro huffed. “My coat is soaked.”   
“We can say I almost drowned. And you saved me.”   
“Why would we do that?”   
Keith shrugged. “I think it will earn us some the seat.”   
“We already have the seat.” Shiro mentioned.   
“Yeah, but it might get us a discount as well.”

Shiro laughed a little bit, leaning forward to plant a kiss on Keith’s now dry forehead.  
“A valid point.” He nodded, throwing another napkin at the other. Keith took it, and lifted his hand to carefully pad against Shiro’s neck, ears and hairline, slowly soaking every little bit of water still in there. Shiro had to admit to himself how undeniably pleasant all of this was.

  
  
Keith’s voice shook him back into reality.   
“I don’t think it’s that bad.”   
“What?” Shiro asked, confused.   
“Being the perfect boy, answering everyone’s expectations. You know? I don’t think it’s the worst thing. Who cares if your life is boring as long as you're happy? Some people live all of their life in one house, knowing the same people, doing the same stuff, and they're the happiest people ever. Some people can do with just that”   
Shiro hummed, finding solace in a long sip of coffee before talking. “Well, I think I’m… kinda happy. But not _really_ happy. I don’t want to just be content. I want the excitement, I want the adventure.”

Keith smiled and nodded.   
“Maybe you should go around in Europe for a year, and I should have a steady job.”   
“I’d rather if we just go around traveling together.” Shiro blurted out before he could think about it. From the way Keith’s look changed, he could understand that might have been too casual of a statement. So he shrugged awkwardly, a shy grin on his lips. “You know, maybe some day. That could be nice.”   
“Yeah.” Keith mumbled quietly. “Yeah, it could. Maybe someday..."

 

Luckily, other than staring at them once in awhile, the waitress didn’t bother them too much. They could finish the cups in peace, and then Keith went to ask her to call them a cab. She didn’t look happy about it, but she still did so.   
They waited about ten more minutes until the taxi arrived. Gladly, that meant they weren’t completely wet by the time they got into the back seat of the car, only somewhat uncomfortably damp. But Keith was in a good mood, and he was talking and laughing throughout the ride, sharing stories about his time in Rome before he met Shiro.

“I should drop you at your house.” Shiro mentioned when they got to the city.   
“Oh it’s fine, I can walk.” Keith shrugged.   
“No.” Shiro smirked. “You jumped into freezing water with no warning today. I’m dropping you home.”   
“There’s no ocean here.”   
“Lots of fountains though.”   
Keith let out a short laugh. “Good point. You win this one.”

 

It wasn’t long after that and the taxi stopped near Keith’s apartment. Shiro leaned in to steal one last kiss for the day when Keith asked quietly.

“See you during the week?”   
“I’ll try.” he promised with a short nod. “I’ll talk to you about it. Once I get some free time we’ll meet”   
“Okay.” He nodded, a tiny grin on his lips as he opened the door and went out.

 

\---

 

Keith watched the car as it disappeared down the street. It was already getting dark, and he was somewhat cold, but he kept staring even after the car was gone. Maybe the cold helped calm him down, maybe he just needed the quiet. Slowly but surely, the smile on his face made it’s way to a worried look, and finally he tore his look away and buried his face in his hands.    
Now that all he was left with were his thoughts, he realized there was no way to go around it. He had to face the truth.     

With a deep sigh, he turned around and got into the house.

He stopped when he felt his phone buzzing. Shiro’s name was flashing on the screen with the text showing.

‘ _Don’t forget to take a warm shower’_.

He looked at the screen, the soft smile returning to his face.   
_‘Going in right now. You should do the same. I don’t want you to get sick because of me <3’ _

  
No way to go around it at all.   
He was falling in love with Shiro.


	10. Of Unexpected Visits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Sorry this took so terribly long. This semester has been killing me and I barely had any time to write.   
> If you're still sticking with me, thank you. I think we're pretty close to the end of this story. 2-3 chapters maybe.

“Okay but I still don’t understand why this is a bad thing.” Hunk was slouching on the couch in front of him, in a rare free afternoon. Keith sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair.   
“I already told you why it’s a bad thing”   
“Half a year is not **that** short of a timer.” Hunk shrugged, earning a judging look from Keith that prompted him to call. “Well it’s not long either, but it’s enough!”  
  


“Enough to get my heart broken!” Keith bit down on his lower lip.    
“If you’re always going to make your choices based on that you’re gonna end up alone.” Hunk had an apologetic smile on his face, probably to contrast the somewhat harsh things he said.    
“I can adopt a dog.” Keith blurted out.    
“You can adopt a dog with your partner. Who might as well be Shiro.”    
Keith huffed, he hated it when Hunk gave an argument he didn’t have any way to counter. That did seem like a very nice future. They would probably adopt a huge dog, one that Shiro could go out with for his morning runs and-   
  


“Oh god no you’re making me picture it!” The singer called out, shaking his head from side to side. “That’s making it worst!”    
“Ah.” Hunk smiled kingly, shrugging as he leaned forward. “So what you’re saying is, I was right.”    
“Yeah. No!” Keith shook his head, shooting up to his feet. “I’m going out before you’ll ruin me.” 

“Sorry.” He could hear Hunk behind him as he moved for the front door. The other man sounded genuinely apologetic, but he still added “But think about it!” before Keith left the house.  

 

-

“Nah, you’re just stupid.”    
“Okay, you two are just ganging up on me.” Keith rolled his eyes and shook his head at the smug expression on Lance’s face.    
It didn’t help when Lance leaned forward, stretching a smile on his face. “Maybe.” He answered playfully. 

“Ugh!” Keith called, lifting the cup from the bar and pouring half of it into his mouth.

This was absolutely frustrating.  
"You're not helping."  
"Buddy, you're not looking for help." Lance pointed out one long, screwy finger at him. "You're just looking for someone to tell you what you want to hear. The problem is what you want to hear is absolute bullshit."

  
"Okay, and what is it that you think I want to hear?" Keith bopped his head to one side.  
"That you shouldn't risk it." Lance nodded. "Which is completely idiotic coming from the person who jumped into freezing water."  
"I didn't get hurt by that."  
"You’ve been sneezing for the past two days."  
Keith rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant."   
  


"I chose to ignore it because it's stupid." Lance said, crossing his arm on his chest.   
"Yes, because calling me names through all of this is what going to help.” This conversation wasn’t getting anywhere, and Keith was already starting to lose his patience.    
“Fine, no name calling.” Lance raised both hands to the sides of his face. “So you’ll get hurt, whatever man. You gotta take some chances or you’re just going to stay one place your entire life. Like, what do you have to lose?” 

_ What does he have to lose, actually?  _ It took him a moment to realize that the answer was, probably, nothing. Nothing other than comfort, that is. But Losing things wasn’t necessarily the only risk, that was what he thought- even though no one around him seemed to agree with him.   

 

-

 

It was late in the evening, a few more days after that, when Shiro called him. Keith had to wave his hands at Hunk and Lance to keep them quiet before answering the phone.   
“Hey, something happened?”    
“Should… something happen?” Shiro sounded confused for a moment.    
Keith shook his head, even though the other couldn’t see that. “No, forget it. What’s up?”

“I’m fine.It’s just that I have some free time tonight and I wondered if you would like to meet.”

 

Keith didn’t even managed to say one word before Lance burst into the conversation.    
“You should come spend the night here!”    
“Yeah!” Keith didn’t have time to call Lance out on this before Hunk joined in. “We don’t mind.”   
“Really?” Shiro sounded surprised. “I would love to come over.”   
Keith had to ignore the smug smile on Lance’s face, turning his back to the others before he answered the phone.    
“Really?”    
“Yeah, why not? It’s about time I visit your place.”    
“Oh, um…” Keith bit on his lower lip, and then let out a short chuckle. 

 

“If it’s a problem then-” Shiro started, but Keith cut him off.    
“That’s not it! I just thought how this is kinda like our second date.” 

To that, Shiro laughed a little bit himself. “You’re right! I didn’t think about it. Maybe that’s why our friends get along with each other.”  
“Maybe. Anyway, just ring the doorbell once you’re here.”  
  


One the phone call was over, the singer turned around to look at his roommates. “Don’t even say it!”    
“Aw come on!” Lance waved his hand through the air. “You’ll thank us later.”    
Hunk just smiled the usual soft smile he had whenever he knew his words will make Keith upset, and shrugged. “I mean… I have to agree.” 

“Thank you?!” Keith shuddered, and waved one arm in the direction of the living room. “Our house is a mess! I can’t just let him in like that, the living room looks like a war zone!”

“The Chinese food boxes do look like fallen soldiers.” Lance nodded, and Hunk wiped a fake tear.    
“They fought so hard.”

Keith groaned loudly. “If I could, I would kill you right now.” Trying to get the house to look normal almost seemed like a lost cause. Still, he got up to his feet, staring at the other with a bold look in his eyes, as if he dared them to try and joke again.    
“Help me clean the house.” He said, voice sharp, as he left them and moved towards the living room.

 

Shiro arrived two full trash bags later. Thankfully, Lance managed to shove them into a closet before Keith opened the door.   
And there he was, standing at the door and looking as out of place in their small, cramped apartment as he possibly could. And one more time Keith couldn’t believe that this man chose him.   
  


“Hey.” He rose to his toes in order to plant a kiss on Shiro's lips, before he moved and let the other through into the living room.   
“You know, I was starting to think this place will be a mess, with how you were talking about it, but it’s not that bad.” Shiro said, looking around him.   
Hiding a panicked chuckle, Hunk shrugged, “Pfff. Nah, really. We’re not  _ that  _ messy.”  
“Right.” the smile on Shiro’s face seemed a little but too well knowing. “I’m sure about that.” 

“You know what, I feel really judged right now, and I’m not the one on a date, so I’m going back to the kitchen.” Lance gave one last wave, accompanied by a sly, wide grin, and left the room.   
“He doesn’t mean that.” Hunk shrugged again. After he disappeared in the kitchen himself, they could hear Lance’s “I  **wasn’t** rude!”    
  


“So…” Keith allowed a soft chuckle to escape his lips. “Welcome to my home.” And before he knew it Shiro wrapped his hands around him and rested his chest against the singer’s back.   
“I think it’s nice.” Shiro nodded. “It looks like home.” Keith hummed, leaning back into Shiro’s arms. They should probably go somewhere, and not just stand like that at the middle of the living room, but he didn’t really mind. 

  
“Oh,” He gazed up after what seemed like a long moment. “Do you want to eat something?”   
“I already ate, it’s okay.” Shiro smiled and nodded. “Wouldn’t want to come to your house this late _and_ eat your food.”  
“An acceptable excuse.” Keith nodded. “But if you don’t eat breakfast, Hunk will never forgive you.”   
“I can’t promise to stay for breakfast.” Shiro hummed, “But Next time I’ll be here for both dinner and breakfast. Agreed?” and Keith couldn’t deny that he like the idea of that.     

“Then it’s set.” Keith finally broke from the hug, taking one of Shiro’s arm in order to lead him into his room. It was a small room, way different from Shiro’s big, fancy hotel suite. But that was his home for the past year, and he kind of like it.   
“Well, there we are.” He gestured at the small space.

Shiro gave him one glance before he walked in, a smile on his face. “So this is where you live.” He searched around him. There weren’t a lot of stuff in the room except the basic furniture. Some clothes lying outside of the small closet, his backpack and guitar case. As much as Keith managed to collect in a year, and not much more. Shiro set on the bed, leaning to examine the wall behind the bedhead

  
“Are these?” He turned around to look at Keith with questioning eyes, pointing at the small pieces of paper stuck here and there against the wall.

“My songs.” Keith closed the door behind him and moved to sit next to the other. “None of them is finished, actually.”  
“Why?” Shiro wondered.   
“I don’t know.” Keith admitted with a gentle shrug. “I just never found one that was good enough to finish, I guess. Maybe I’m just stuck.” 

Shiro nodded, and seemed to be considering that as he picked one of them of the wall, giving it another read. “I can’t read the notes, but I like the words on this one.”   
Keith hooched in closer, leaning his shoulder against Shiro as he read the note Shiro chose. As he finished, a smile rose to his lips. “A good choice.” He said softly. “I can sing it to you if you want to.”  
  


“I’d love to!” Shiro’s answer came quickly. He handed the note to Keith, and kept his eyes on the singer. The gaze felt comfortable. It felt like Shiro was really waiting for him, but not harsh enough to feel pressing. So Keith sang. The amount of words and notes on the paper barely amounted to a minute of song but still, it felt nice singing it. Until the minute passed and Keith averted his eyes away from the other. All of a sudden, this made him feel incredibly self conscious. “It- it’s better with my guitar. But… Yeah, this is it for now.”

“I think it’s great.” Shiro said, voice soft and quiet, he placed his hand on top of Keith’s hand and squeezed. “You should finish this one.”   
“You think?” Keith glanced back to him from the corner of his eyes.  
Shiro nodded. “I mean it. I’m not just saying it to be nice. This one is good. At least try and finish it. For me?”   
  


“After an encouragement like that?” Keith let out a small laugh, that to his own ear sounded a little bubbly, and turned his head to fully look at the other. “How can I say no? I'm gonna make it our song.”  
Maybe it was the hour, maybe it was the lightning in the room, but for a moment he thought Shiro was blushing.   
For a moment, the look in Shiro’s eyes was different, somewhat confused,somewhat awed. It was a look that seemed almost familiar to Keith, it was how he felt, often, when he was lost in Shiro’s eyes. 

 

It was a small room, and an even smaller bed, and soon enough they both found themselves lying on it, one on top of the other, spreading little kisses on each others face and trying not to make too much noise.  
“We can’t.” Keith mumbled, brushing one hand through Shiro’s bangs. “These walls are so thin, you can hear anything… They have work tomorrow… we can’t.” He ended up saying once again, trying to convince the other, and maybe himself as well.

Which didn’t really work, because Shiro just pressed his forehead against his, nibbling at his lower lip as he said.   
“We gotta.”    

“This is a horrible argument.” Keith tried to hold back a low moan, unsuccessfully. It escaped his throat and rolled right into Shiro’s mouth as he answered.  
“That’s not an argument at all.” Shiro’s replay came out as playful as it could’ve been. Soft and purring as he pressed one knee against Keith’s groin. 

  
Really, he didn’t have to do much more than this to convince him.

  
It was far from being discreet, even with Keith burying his face in his pillow, and Shiro hiding his face in Keith’s shoulder. They tried covering as many moans as they could, but the small bed wasn’t as kind. It squeaked under the pressure almost every time Shiro pushed into him.They were done quickly, one last shuffle as Shiro slipped out and pulled Keith to lie next to him, bodies spooning one another in calm, sweet afterglow.

  
The only thing that broke the silence was a loud knock on the wall, and Lance’s voice following it.    
“If you’re planning on a second round I will personally come over to your room and shoot you into space!”

  
  


-

 

Keith wasn’t sure what time it was when he felt Shiro move away from him and get up. He only felt the slight chill against his now exposed back, followed by the bright sunlight hitting against his eyelids.  
“Rise and shine.” Shiro’s voice came from near the window, where he just opened the blinds.    
  


“What time is it?” Keith grunted quietly and turned around with his back to the window.   
“Seven in the morning, now get up.” The soft shifting sound signaled that Shiro was making his way around the room, legs moving through the messy floor.    
  


“Why do we need to get up so early?” Keith groaned in protest, refusing to open his eyes.   
“Because I have to go to work soon and I don’t want to leave you asleep, obviously.”       
  


“It’s rude to wake people up at this hour you know.” With one final complaint, Keith opened his eyes, pulling himself to a sitting position. “There, I’m awake.” He followed Shiro with his eyes as the other kept moving around the room, looking around before zooming on the messy pile of clothes inside the closet. There, he shoved his arms inside and started searching.   
  


“What are you-” Keith started, but was cut off when Shiro pulled out a t-shirt with a victorious “a-ha!”. It took the singer a few moment to realize what shirt that was. With a satisfied grin, Shiro pulled the NASA shirt over his head and straightened it.    
  


“I told you I plan on getting it back.” Shiro turned around to face him with a smile.   
“Ahh.” Keith nodded, an amused smile on his lips. “So this is the reason you came to visit.”   
“Well…” Shiro let his gaze linger, passing his eyes on the other’s body in a way that made Keith blush. “Not the only reason.” 

  
Without any warning given, Keith took the pillow and flung it towards the other. Shiro just barely caught it and stopped it from knocking some clothes out of the closet..  
“Don’t say things like that when you’re already dressing up to go back to work.” 

  
“Fine.” Shiro kept the pillow, laughing shortly as he threw a pair of pants and a shirt towards the bed in return. “Dress up. I don’t know where you keep your coffee.”   
With a short laugh of his own, Keith pulled the shirt over his head, scrambling as he got up from the bed. Shiro used that moment to place one hand in his hip and lean in for a kiss.

  
“Come, I’ll show you where the coffee is.” Keith said, voice soft and quiet. Shiro couldn’t stay for long, so they settled on “just coffee” and no breakfast attached to it. Shiro leaning himself against the counter and Keith sitting on the table in front of him.

  
“So…” Keith wondered, face peeking above the warm mug in his hands. “When are you free again?”  
“This weekend. Probably?” Shiro offered. “I don’t think I can meet before that.”   
“Unless you come unannounced to crash at my place again.” Keith nodded, and Shiro quirked an eyebrow, an amused smile on his face.   
“You didn’t seem to complain.”   
“Not at all.”

  
Shortly after that, Shiro was ready to leave. They shared one last kiss at the door, Shiro promised to call late today and meet as soon as he’s free, and Keith watched him leave. He watched him until he disappeared down the stairs, and them moved to the window to watch him down on the street until he turned past a corner.

  
Things were going well. They were going better than expected.  
Even this early in the morning, it felt like a nice surprise.         


End file.
